Naruto Uzumaki and the Legendary Sannin
by kvsyaoran
Summary: Book 4: Our favorite blonde wizard must set out on a dangerous mission that will take him far from Konoha with the aid of Jiraiya the Toad Sage, to find the healer that will save the life of the Sandaime. Along the way, Naruto and Harry will discover dark forces hot on their trail; from the likes of Orochimaru to the threat of new enemies and strange creatures on the horizon
1. A Storm is Coming

"Blah": Talking

"**Blah**": Demon speaking/Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

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><p><strong>For over thirteen years, the snake Sannin Orochimaru has lived as a disgraced missing-nin, an enemy of his former village and one of the world's most fearsome, notorious criminals, responsible for the deaths of countless innocent people, kidnapped and defiled numerous small children for experimentation, committed high-treason, and attacked his former home. But his reign of unspeakable acts has come close to a very possible end after a fateful encounter with a teenaged boy named Naruto Uzumaki.<strong>

**Naruto and his spiritual companion, Harry Potter, cursed the Sannin and he now has the worst case of bad luck imaginable. Orochimaru seeks to be rid of his curse with the aid of another person from his village that might have the power to break it. But he must find her first, out in the world of unlimited possibilities and untold danger.**

**At the same time, Naruto Uzumaki has been given a dangerous task to save the Sandaime Hokage from certain death. He must escape his village and set out into the same world as Orochimaru in search for the Legendary Sucker and Slug Sannin, Madame Tsunade.**

**With the third member of the original Sannin, Jiraiya the Toad Sage, on the road to aid him in his travels, Naruto will go to untold lengths to save his surrogate grandfather, as he uncovers the truth behind his master Hayate Gekko's murder and the existence of a dangerous criminal group that seeks to obtain the demon fox sealed within him.**

**Our favorite blonde-haired shinobi is no longer safe even within the walls of Konoha, even when surrounded with friends. Because on top of everything being thrown down on him, there may well be a traitor in his midst as he is hurled towards an unforeseeable future.**

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><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling**

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><p>Chapter 1: A Storm is Coming<p>

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><p>{{<em>Lumos! (Hedwig's Theme) by John Williams<em>}}

It was a dark night in Konohagakure no Sato, as storm clouds hovered over the town and blocked out the moon.

As darkness loomed over the massive town, lightning bolts flashed within the clouds as thunder boomed minutes or seconds later. The rain of the tremendous thunderstorm fell onto the countless rooftops of houses and stores as the lifeless streets of the conurbation became flooded with at least an inch and a half of water. All of the lights in the village were shut down at this time, because one of the power stations for the village was damaged after the massive battle that ensued over one month ago. With all the lights in the village shut down to conserve the power, the village was immersed into a state of absolute darkness, at least for a few hours. On this night, not even the smallest source of light could be seen, with the exception of one small window that stood out like a sore thumb. On the tallest floor of an old apartment building, a small bluish-white light dimmed into existence, fueled at the end of a wand.

Within the confines of that one small somewhat abandoned home there was a blonde-haired preteen named Naruto Uzumaki, and he was wide-awake.

Naruto was an unusual individual for several reasons: the first reason was that he contained a destructive and dangerous demon inside him called the Kyuubi no Kitsune, also known as the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. The second reason was he had a considerable habit of doing things in his old apartment in the dead of the night, even while he lived with his adopted older brother at another house. And the final reason was that he happened to be a wizard, the last known wizard in existence. When he was born, a sorcerer from another realm named Harry Potter had died and was stuck in limbo until he escaped and was sealed into Naruto by accident around the same time the demon was sealed into him too. This incident caused Naruto to become embossed with his own magical powers and he became the other wizard's incarnate. The two of them made first contact with each other almost seven years ago, and ever since then, have learned how to survive in the world of shinobi together, becoming close friends, as if they were siblings. In the time after the two wizards swore to secrecy, the two of them let a selective few into their circle of trust that aided them and kept their secret safe. Those chosen few included were his adopted older brother Iruka Umino, who took care of him at his home whenever Naruto wasn't at work at his old house, which he used as a lab now more than ever. And then there was the late Hayate Gekko, who was a close friend to Naruto and was also his swordsmaster. But the latter had been murdered some time before Konoha was invaded last month.

The loss left the blonde wizard devastated, but he had started to recover. He knew his friend wouldn't want him to shut himself into sadness. Naruto could still laugh, smile, and have fun as he did before. But that didn't mean that he didn't think about his master once in a while and missed him. Sometimes, he would visit the Hero's Memorial and read his fallen friend's name, offer flowers or even chocolates on the memorial out of respect and love.

Right now, it was almost midnight and Naruto was currently getting out of bed to get a number of important things done. He stood with his wand still in his hands and focused his chakra for the first time since he had broken his arm. He took a breath and formed a special handsign he was more than familiar with about now.

He then whispered, "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_"

There was a blast of white smoke and beside Naruto an exact clone of him walked into existence and smiled as it held its once-broken arm and flexed it. Once the smoke had cleared, the shadow clone stood before his creator, wearing the same dark-blue PJ's that were lent to him from his older brother Iruka. The real Naruto looked over his clone and started to instruct it.

"Let's start the night with making more Wiggenweld potion, since we're all out. Use the cauldron on the stove and don't forget to blind the windows while in the kitchen. No need to be concerned about all the dittany we've collected, since it was watered down last night… Also, check on the Exploding Potion as well? I've had it sit in the cauldron for about seventeen hours, so it should be done…"

The clone nodded and took its wand and muttered, "_Lumos!_"

The shadow clone walked into the kitchen room, knelt down and wore a white mask over his mouth and nose. He then unveiled the cabinet below the counter to find two pewter cauldrons that were filled with different potions. One of them was filled with a glowing, neon-blue substance, and the one next to it was filled with a mud-like, bubbling brew. The two different cauldrons were each heated with their own individual source of heat. Which seemed to be bluebell flames that were somehow unable to burn down the wooden cabinet where it was contained, like the flame was conditioned not to burn or set fire to the kitchen while unattended.

There were also smaller cauldrons lined on the sides that levitated all over the cabinet, each with their own bluebell flames that followed underneath. Within each cauldron, there was a different concoction that Naruto created with his older brother: creations that would become his tools should he ever need them in the future. One of the cauldrons contained a substance that was emerald in color and released these unusual fumes, which was the reason the Naruto clone had to wear a mask. The shadow clone checked inside the first small cauldron and nodded as he examined the mixture.

'_Nii-san, I think that the mixture for our Garroting Gas is finished._'

The older wizard looked at the concoction from his chambers within his subconscious and nodded as well with a smile on his face, '_**I think it's about done too. You should have it stored soon. But to be on the safe side, let's let it brew for the rest of the night. Tomorrow we can have it stored in some of those small stolen bottles.**_'

'_For the last time, I didn't steal them! It doesn't count as stealing from the apothecary if the people moved back to Kusagakure and left a lot of their stuff in the trash!_'

'_**Heh! **__**Watch the volume, mate! I was kidding!**_'

'_Oh… Excuse me, then… Still, it's a shame those old folks wanted to move somewhere safer… But at least I didn't have to burn some cash to take whatever else was left from their old store… No clearance sale… Anyway, back to the mixture, I'll have it stored tomorrow then, Nii-san__…_'

The shadow clone looked to the other cauldron that hovered and met a most unusual site; the inside of the cauldron was much more spacious than it looked on the outside. Inside the cauldron, there was a lavender-colored potion that had these weird, sea-sponge shaped objects that were no bigger than the size of walnuts. Naruto used some tweezers he removed from his homemade potioneer kit and extracted one of the objects in the cauldron for examination. When he collected the small article it sounded like the substance was a solid rock that floated in the radiant mixture. The clone checked over the rock and watched as the moisture it retained drained out and dried in an instant. The rock soon resembled a dark crystal or a rare volcanic rock that shimmered as he held above the blue flames.

'_**You did it, Naruto! I didn't think it could be done, but there it is!**_'

The shadow clone crawled out from the cabinet and rested the rock down on the table where he used to eat his meals. There he watched and listened as the rock was drained and made these smalls noises that indicated a sort of crinkle-sound, like water that's frozen over within arctic conditions. The clone smiled and held the dried rock in his hands, which was now cold to the touch.

"Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder…"

Naruto had come up with the idea while brainstorming last week with Iruka, thus the reason he remained in the old house tonight to watch over and finish his creations. He thought that there was a chance that he and Harry could recreate the original invention that Fred and George Weasley made and sold back in their store, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Naruto wanted to have more of a taste of the world his older brother had come from and create his own version of the item that he could use while on his missions or in the event of another future invasion. So what he had done was create a draft that compressed its contents under extreme pressures and would enhance the effects of whatever object was inserted. Naruto took these normal smoke bombs and waited several hours until the enhancements were done. It wasn't the same method that Fred and George used, but it was still a perfect imitation of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder.

The shadow clone started to remove all the new smoke bombs and had them set on the table to drain their fluid and crystallize. But the clone had to be cautious and slow; otherwise the whole house would be filled with dark smoke for weeks. Not to mention, Naruto added sand to the mixture to make the smoke bombs more like the original devices the oldest shinobi cultures used. He obtained the sand from the leftovers Gaara left behind after their battle in the forest. So the new devices he created would create a thick smoke he could use to hide from his enemies, but also blind them and slow them down.

Once he was done with the smoke bombs, the shadow clone moved back into the cabinet and used its wand to vanish the contents of the lavender draft he had used. He then moved on to the cauldron on the bottom beside the one with the neon-blue substance. Naruto had worked on this one ever since after the funeral last month. Inside the cauldron there was this foul, mud-like substance that bubbled about ten times each minute. The clone stirred it several times and checked it over with his older brother there to check his notes on the instructions. The older wizard smiled and nodded his head as he checked his notes.

'_**Your Polyjuice Potion is coming along better than I thought it would, Naruto. I'm impressed that you've managed to get this far with what ingredients you had…**_'

The blonde-haired shadow clone chuckled and smiled. He did so each time he heard his older brother admire him for his successful efforts.

'_It wasn't that hard, to be honest. The hardest ingredients to make Polyjuice with are the lacewing flies, fluxweed, shredded Boomslang skin, and bicorn horn. I had to take some time to find those first two ingredients before I even started to brew it. And then all I had to do from there was look around for a Boomslang in the Forest of Death and cut off a bit of the horn of the most wild and vicious beast I could find in those same woods…There were a lot of wild boar in that forest, but still no unicorns…_'

'_**Techno babble set aside, I'm still amazed here! Slughorn would have had a field day if he saw this! You're such an excellent potioneer!**_'

The shadow clone's cheeks flushed with more color and continued to smile, but soon looked back at the cauldron with a more serious face hidden under his white mask.

'_It still needs a few more ingredients… I think I need to add one or two more leeches, and then it's done!_'

The clone looked over at the last cauldron on the bottom and looked more cautious and careful than he looked when he handled the smoke bombs. The mixture was a radiant neon-blue color that almost matched the color of his irises. The smoke above the substance swirled in an unusual manner, which indicated to the clone that the brew was done, but that it was also the most hazardous substance that he ever created. He stirred the mixture and watched as it continued to fill the cabinet with light.

'_Exploding Potion… It's so beautiful, but it sure can be unstable…_'

'_**Be extremely careful with this, Naruto… I used to handle these while I was on the run, and these can backfire on you easily… You'll need to get some small vials for this stuff tomorrow, understood?**_'

'_Yes… I understand… I'll also charm the vials to hold the potion still._'

While the clone was careful to watch the heat on the cauldron, a bell chimed in the kitchen. The blonde-haired clone hit his head hard against the top of his cabinet. The shadow clone was too worried over the potions and bombs, which forced the real Naruto to bolt out of the bedroom and to the oven. He found some oven mittens and opened his oven door to extract a full oven sheet of what looked like sizable cupcakes made of chocolate and vanilla, crafted to look like little cauldrons. Naruto rested the tray on the cold stove and watched them as the cakes cooled down and solidified. The blonde-haired rookie smiled and almost laughed at seeing the cakes all sink in and leave enough room for icing to be filled in while the cakes themselves remained soft and warm.

'_I did it!_ _I got the recipe down for the perfect Cauldron Cakes!_'

Harry saw the cakes his little brother had baked on his own for weeks come into fruition. At seeing such mouth-watering sweets, he started to drool and wished he could have a taste for himself, since he had been unable to eat real food for what felt like centuries to him. Still, he offered more advice based on how he remembered what Cauldron Cakes tasted like back when he was alive, the fresh ones that he loved from Honeydukes or the trolley on the Hogwarts Express.

'_**Excellent! All you need now is some cream, toppers, a bit of icing, and some tea to serve it with! It's a real shame that I can't eat some... those sure do look delicious…**_'

'_You will, Nii-san, I promise… All we need to do is find an artificial vessel to transfer your soul into and we can feast on a fresh batch__…_'

Once he had preserved the pastries and stored them, Naruto removed the metal sheet from the stove and returned to his bedroom.

Ever since the clone retreated into the kitchen, the real version of him was at work with his old beaded rucksack. It still looked about the same as it did when he first bought it. But at the moment, he made several alterations to it other than decorating the outside for creative reasons. Naruto opened the rucksack wide and inserted his wand into it. He then summoned a fair amount of magic and started to use a charm he had learned that released a faint white light. He reached his arm into the rucksack as he concentrated and focused as best as he could. After about five minutes he removed his wand from the rucksack and looked inside to see into almost infinite darkness. He then reached his wand into it and lit the end so that he could see the bottom. When he did, he smiled when it was revealed that the charm he used work and his rucksack was now hundreds of times more massive on the inside than it was on the outside. He could fit his entire apartment inside the old rucksack had such a desire ever occurred to him. Naruto, under his older brother's instructions, had used an Undetectable Extension Charm

'_This'll be useful while I'm on a mission!_'

'_**With this much space you could store away a years worth of supplies! It's a good thing that you came up with the idea of an Anti-Gravity Charm. It will help keep everything you put into your rucksack to remain balanced even in the middle of a battle!**_'

'_Dattebayo! I didn't think it would be done tonight but there it is!_'

'_**With that said and done, what other activities do we have set out in the future, Naruto?**_'

'_I think we should make an invisibility cloak next. You think you could help me out with that? We made that black stealth suit when I was little, remember? So how about we make an invisibility cloak? Huh?!_'

'_**I'm not so sure about that. Remember what happened to the stealth suit? It disintegrated after too much magical power was focused into it to hide from Sarutobi while still inside his office. Besides if it were to fall into the wrong hands of an enemy shinobi, it could be a dangerous weapon.**_'

'_But that old stealth suit was self-stitched. If I can find a strong enough material to make an invisibility cloak with, then it wouldn't break down like the old suit did. And for the record, I would never let that cloak out of my sight, unlike someone I know._'

'_**Oi! I was eleven when I left mine on the castle tower and I was a lot more concerned about Ron when Sirius dragged him into the Whomping Willow. Cut me some slack, Naruto. I was still a kid.**_'

'_But I'm twelve and I know better since I'm a shinobi and I have your words of wisdom and experience to make sure I don't make a similar or even more fatal mistakes. You could at least give it another chance, Nii-san, and I swear I won't leave it behind for someone else to take…_'

'_**Well…**_ _**Fine then. But you're going to have to find one hell of a cloak if we're going to make it work.**_'

'_Deal!_ And _I know where we can find one! I'll come around and see Tenten later this week if she's available!_'

'_**She is nice, isn't she? Unlike most kunoichi we know, she can be considerate and reliable. She would make a exceptional girlfriend, wouldn't she?**_'

'_And you think _I'm_ the weird one sometimes? Where did that idea come from?!_'

'_**Well, I don't know, but you should consider finding yourself a girlfriend soon, Naruto. You'll be thirteen in a few weeks!**_'

'_Whatever, Nii-san. And for the record, I don't think she and I would work out. We don't really know each other that well._'

'_**What? You have preferences in women? What kind? I'm curious. But you better not say you dig girls with pink hair or I'll kill you!**_'

'_Uh, I think I'll head back to bed now, Nii-san…_'

'_**Very well, be sure that everything is all tucked away before you hit the sheets… And brush those teeth! And don't give me that old broken arm excuse again! Your arm's fine!**_'

'_Ok! Ok__!'_

His face still flushed from the short talk about suitable kunoichi, Naruto did as he was told and tucked aside all of his potions and dismissed his shadow clone once he no longer had a need for it. He made some last minute touches to the potions and then locked all of them with a charm over the drawers, so that he could dismiss his embarrassment.

Once he was finished with his teeth and the bathroom, Naruto returned to his bedroom and fell into dreams about Quidditch, how he soared across a massive field and scored points over and over as the crowds in the stands cheered him on and blew kisses at him. He then switched to dreams where he defeated Sasuke in front of all the kunoichi in Konohagakure no Sato, how Sakura said that the Uchiha was a total loser and she went on to admire the blonde-haired shinobi as he used Sasuke as a footrest and Kakashi declared Naruto was the best rookie in Konoha.

But in between these two individual dreams, Naruto sneezed at random, which some folks in this world believed meant that someone somewhere out there in the world talked about him, at that second.

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><p>{{<em>Voldemort by Alexandre Desplat<em>}}

Hundreds of miles in the lands far north from the Land of Fire, at the center of a secret civilization hidden under the earth, a man with skin as white as snow and ink-black hair that ran down to his waist was seen with a small wooden box filled with luxurious tea in his hands. He was seated on his massive bed and was prepared to rest. He handled the hot tea in his hands with care, drank little and let out a silent breath through his nose. He almost smiled in satisfaction once he realized that he had no accidents or mishaps since the previous evening. The man was careful when he reached over to rest his tea back onto his built-in bedside table. But then his slender hands flinched for no reason and the box almost fell onto the bed. The white-skinned man twitched and tried to catch the tea but then it bounced off of his knuckles and was drenched all over his outstretched arms as well as his face.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The white-skinned man's scream was heard throughout the entire fortress that alerted or scared all the soldiers and servants that were inside. The white-skinned man's arms and face sizzled and burned so bad that the skin where the tea had touched had formed red marks and even blisters. The man screamed and then he lashed out and broke his bedside table out of sheer frustration.

"GODDAMMIT! WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME?! WHY?!"

In no time at all, an attendant from outside the door burst into the master bedroom and hovered over his master with a nervous and worried voice of concern.

"Orochimaru-sama! Tell me what's the matter! What can I do?!"

The white snake looked over at his attendant, his face cold as a blizzard as drool leaked out of the corners of his mouth. His arms twitched as his delicate white skin burned and then he unleashed a roar so loud and so full of wrath that it was heard outside the fortress and in the forest that surrounded the dark entrance.

"**YOU CAN ****DIE!**"

Whatever Orochimaru did to his attendant, it caused the man's blood to splatter all over the bed, stained the floors and the tapestries over the walls made of stone and wood. The attendant then fell to the floor, dead as a doornail while his master trembled in his seat on the bed, exhausted as if he had run around the world and back. Orochimaru's burnt arms twitched as he heard a set of footsteps and a man walked into the bedroom with a frown and a thin scar on his face that ran down his cheek.

"You killed another one..." he sighed, "If this continues, we'll run out of followers at winter's end…"

Orochimaru looked to see an older teen with long white hair, glasses, and a hideous scar on his left cheek that ran down from his cheek to his chin. He wore a sleeveless black shirt and his hair was undone from its normal ponytail as he was about to go to bed along with the rest of the secret civilization. The teen removed his glasses as he walked into the bedroom and over the deceased attendant.

"You still have trouble even with the most insignificant tasks? You haven't been the same ever since that battle in the Forest of Death. Your jutsu fail almost all the time now and the easiest of actions somehow end in disaster… Like a small child that found his father's sword… We should find a solution soon, before I have to find a town that sells adult-sized diapers."

Orochimaru slammed his fist into the back of his bed and caused a number of valuable items on the walls to fall to the floor and break, such as several sacred artifacts that included a wonderful sword with an amber stone built into the hilt.

"Kabuto," the evil shinobi hissed in a cold voice, "Patronize me like that ever again, and I will kill you without thinking twice about it… You understand me?!"

The man nodded his head and he soon sat down on the bed next to his master, albeit in an uncomfortable but obedient manner. Orochimaru calmed down since this man was his doctor and he had to remain still if he wished to be rid of the unbelievable burns on his arms and face. Kabuto's hands started to radiate with chakra as he rested them on the wounds and he healed Orochimaru's burns. He stroked the skin of his master and tried to sooth him with his touch as if he were his lover. He took in the smell of his master in a rather unsettling manner while Orochimaru looked uninterested and insisted that his best lieutenant finish with the burns on his arms, his face filled with visible revulsion. Kabuto looked a little bit hurt and saddened but soon his face turned into an emotionless mask. Meanwhile his master stared at his arms and reflected on the events after that mentioned battle in the forest.

Ever since he met that blonde rookie and was hit with that so-called curse the Sannin sometimes felt like divine intervention had been done and caused all of his actions and ambitions to fail or somehow end with unpredictable misfortune on his end. There were times where it felt like the whole world was turned against him and no matter what he did or how hard he tried he could never come out unscathed or without loss no matter what situation he was in.

Orochimaru twitched and thought back to when his endless misfortunes started. He could see the face of the child responsible for this curse tormenting him and caused him to kill his own followers and servants. The blonde-haired shinobi from the forest, the one with the wooden boom-stick, continued to haunt him as he clenched his teeth.

Kabuto leaned in toward his master and asked him, "Orochimaru-sama… Is there something that I can do?"

The Sannin hesitated as he devised a horrible and elaborate idea as he stared into the darkness and left his assistant and medical-nin alone in silence for several intense moments.

"Anything at all?" he asked one more time.

Orochimaru at last made up his mind. He believed that the best method to solve this problem was to trace it back to its source and then cut it out.

"I want Naruto Uzumaki…"

Kabuto raised his brow before his face softened and frowned. But then he smirked and licked the corners of his mouth as dwelled more on the idea. Orochimaru looked to Kabuto with a determined look on his face before he uttered the official order.

"He's the one who did this to me… You will bring him to me at once and force him to reverse whatever he's done. Chase him out of Konoha and send the soldiers after him… Have them scan all across the Land of Fire if it has to be done… I will not be able to rest until I am rid of this curse!"

The shinobi then turned his back to his master and walked over the corpse one last time before he lifted his hand and waved to his boss as he marched out of the bedroom.

He then told him as he walked, "I will reach for our contact in Konoha at once, Orochimaru-sama..."

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><p><strong>(Fake dramatic logo scene in the clouds)<strong>

**TV-TOKYO & WARNER BROS. PICTURES Presents.**

**Naruto Uzumaki and the Legendary Sannin**

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><p>To Be Continued…<p>

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><p><strong>Here we go again! The clock spins and the roof is down tonight! I've been working on this book for a long time and now I can finally start posting it! This is going to be pretty good because a lot of stuff is going to happen! The Search for Tsunade Arc is going to be extended and there are going to be a considerable amount of alterations made along the way, including a new fight scene between Naruto and two infamous members of an iconic criminal organization. His fight with Kabuto will be different and maybe he'll even get a re-match with Orochimaru. Please make sure to review and I'll keep posting new chapters!<strong>


	2. Anko's Helping Hand

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

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><p><strong>Hello friends and readers! We're back with another new chapter! And I hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, or whatever wonderful holiday you celebrate!<strong>

**But before we start, I want to take a moment to address a little situation I have with this story. You see, when I reach the Sasuke Retrieval Arc, I really don't know what to do with Choji, Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Lee, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro's individual battles. I tried to see what I could do with them, and it's difficult for me to make those fights any better than they were in the original manga and their anime adaptations. In the end, their fights don't affect the outcome, no matter how many times I change them, unless I were to kill off one of the main supporting characters. Not to mention that if I let the fights remain the same it would take at least 10 full chapters to cover those stories.**

**So I have to ask: should I have the story primarily follow Naruto and graze the beginning of those other battles and then leave them alone? **

**I could have Naruto hear the sound of earth crumbling from Choji's fight with ****Jirōbō****, monstrous noises from Kiba's battle with Sakon and Ukon, an ear-splitting sound of a flute after he escapes Tayuya, and the sound of something slicing through the air for Neji and Kidomaru's fight?**

**To be honest, I don't want to spend months writing what are already brilliant battles to begin with and delay . All of their fights were already good, and I don't see how I can make them any different. I think I just want to focus on Naruto when we get to that point.**

**Azeroth44: Let's see what the reviewers think, then.**

**Kvsyaoran: Very well. And on another note that's actually related to this current chapter: there will be a bit of mild Kakashi bashing here. I said it before that I don't like bashing Kakashi, but it's in here to build up the events of what's to come. Kakashi will have his redemption in this book.**

**With that said and done, we can start this new chapter and I hope you guys enjoy it!**

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><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling**

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><p>Chapter 2: Anko's Helping Hand<p>

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><p>{{<em>Lily's Theme by Alexandre Desplat<em>}}

Sunday morning, the clouds were scattered all across the skies as the sun was blocked from view and the dark clouds released a small drizzle. No one needed an umbrella or a raincoat; in fact, the drizzle would have felt nice if it weren't for the cold autumn air. While the weather was not the best, Naruto was still outside as he walked down a wide set of stone stairs that led him down into a massive flat field lined with hundreds of identical tombstones. Elsewhere there were four identical war memorials that stood at each of the four corners of the massive field, and an outsized statue of a massive red flame at the middle end of the field that represented the Will of Fire. The blonde rookie looked around to check if there were other citizens around and discovered he was alone. He then walked down several rows of tombstones before he found the one he had come to see. Naruto halt when he found a stone that stuck out to him like a sore thumb.

Naruto walked over to it and aimed his wand at the dirtied tombstone. He then muttered an incantation and waved his wand over it like a brush. The blonde-haired wizard was amazed that he hadn't been to see this stone since the summer, and that it had collected so much dirt in all that time, so much that he had to use magic to clean it. Naruto waved his wand over the stone a few more times until it looked as if it were carved out of the purest marble. Once he was finished, he stood back and waved his wand over the stone one more time to conjure a wonderful collection of lilies, roses, and purple tulips mixed with yellow daisies. He let them hover over the stone before he flicked his wand to lower them into the slots on either side of the stone that read a name and several short miniscule words etched beneath it:

**KUSHINA UZUMAKI**

うずまきクシナ

**Beautiful daughter, beloved friend, faithful wife, and loving mother**

He knelt down to the stone and sat down while he tried to start a conversation with his mother. Naruto felt as if she and her husband were out there somewhere, watching over him and listening to whatever he wanted to tell them. But before he started to talk, he reached into his trusted rucksack and revealed a snapshot from his scarlet leather album back at home. He stared at the picture and let a warm smile stretch across his face.

It was an enchanted photograph of his mother at a time when she wore an autumn outfit and danced in front of a water fountain with the man Naruto believed to be his father. He had created the image of this man in the picture several weeks after he had heard his mother and father's voices. Naruto had created a tall, broad-shouldered man around the same age as the red-haired woman. He wore his smooth shoulder-length blond hair in a similar disordered mess as his son, but he wore glasses over his cerulean-blue eyes. The man also wore a white dress-shirt and tie under a black vest with matching slacks and a brown overcoat for the chilly autumn weather. The two lovers in the photograph held hands and started to dance, with orange and scarlet leaves dancing in the wind with them as the couple swirled around the fountain and kissed each other once or twice, clearly in love.

The blonde-haired child soon tucked the snapshot back into his enchanted rucksack before he cleared his throat and started to talk to his mother.

"Hello, mum..." he started out slow, "You can hear me too, dad, I know it… You're voices were so wonderful when I heard them. But I sure do wish we had more time to talk or even see each other… But I think I'll be fine for now. You two are out there somewhere, watching over me… You two don't know how much it meant to me to know that you're actually proud of me for being what I am… Heh! But then again, since you already knew so much about me the last time we talked, I guess you knew that too."

Naruto hesitated as he felt his older brother create the sensation that he had sat down beside him and rubbed his shoulder in an affectionate manner. The blonde-haired kid then went on about all of the creations he had made in secret in the time after the invasion of Konoha. He went on about all the kinds of magic he liked to use and what potions he was best at creating without the use of a list of instructions. Naruto went on and on about how he felt about his teammates and what life was like under the roof of Iruka Umino. The blonde genin told his mom and dad about how he came under his care and how cheerful life had been to live with someone that loved and protected him. He also told them how Anko and Iruka decided to date each other again and how contented his older brother had been ever since. In fact, the woman's influence over the tan-skinned man had improved him with his status as a shinobi, now that the two of them trained together on some of their dates.

He then moved on about how much he hated his teammate Sasuke whenever he had stolen his thunder and had taken his limelight ever since he learned how to use the lightning-technique Chidori. This rant forced him to ask his mother how she and Mikoto Uchiha could have ever been friends. But all he heard in return was a soft whistle in his ears when the wind breezed across the field. Naruto nodded and assumed his mother would have told him that even someone from the Uchiha clan could be a reasonable friend, as her friendship with Mikoto was made obvious with the various other snapshots of those two women in the scarlet album. He went on to confess that he still valued Sasuke as a friend, whenever he wasn't rude to him or acted like a self-righteous brat.

The blonde-haired rookie soon went on to talk about how much he loved Sakura Haruno. But after about five extensive minutes about that, there was a sudden wind that caused a soda can to fall out of the trash bin at the entrance. The wind caused the can to roll and bounce across the memorial field until it hit Naruto hard in the head, which forced him to cease his rambling about how beautiful he believed his female teammate was.

The knock to the head caused him to switch subjects immediately as the wind calmed down. Naruto went on about how frustrated he had been with his sensei and rival teammate. He told his mom about how Kakashi had started to treat Sasuke like he was his favorite student and how much it bothered him. His frustrations towards his sensei and his rival were further intensified when Sasuke started to show off his enhanced abilities a lot more often and claimed it to be the result of his training. Naruto felt weak whenever his rival showed off and reminded him that it was thanks to Kakashi and the Sharingan that he was stronger and faster than ever. The blonde-haired rookie tried his best and worked hard ever since to become better than his rival, but it looked like Sasuke was a mile ahead of him at every turn. Naruto told Kushina that he believed Kakashi trained Sasuke in secret ever since after the Chunin Exams were over, because his sensei had blown him off several times and had not trained all three of his students at once ever since their mission to the Land of Waves.

But he didn't want to leave on a bad note with his mom and dad, so Naruto talked about happier matters on his mind, such as the cloak he intended to make. But soon, he started to feel cold and decided that he had to return to Iruka and have lunch with him. He then stared back at the stone and concluded his conversation.

"I know you two probably aren't happy with how my childhood turned out, but don't be sad in the afterlife… I can't imagine how this life would have turned out had the demon not attacked us… Granted I'm sure you two would have given me the greatest home a weirdo like me could have ever wanted… Things have been tough for me these past twelve years, but I can honestly say that I'm grateful with what has been given to me so far and what I've worked so hard to achieve."

Naruto hesitated for a while as he was reminded of his recent loss.

"Oh, mum... if you and dad meet a man named Hayate Gekko wherever you are… Please let him know that I miss him."

When he was finished, the blonde wizard laid down several homemade Cauldron Cakes, as he was made aware that his mother loved sweets and chocolate. He then stood above her tombstone, hulled his beaded rucksack over his shoulders, and meditated to his mother and father in the hope that it would make them both happier in the afterlife. He closed his eyes and held his hands, as he remained oblivious to the world around him. Naruto almost couldn't feel the cool breeze that brushed against his skin, or hear the sounds of barking hounds somewhere out in the distance. He even failed to sense that someone from across the field was watching him.

At the entrance of the memorial field, there stood a man that wore an ANBU mask and uniform. The unidentified soldier leaned on the base of one of the columns that established the arch. He stared at Naruto when he heard that last bit about the deceased Tokubetsu. The ANBU let out a soft, subtle cough as he cleared his throat and vanished. When the rookie was done with his prayers to his loved ones, he offered his mother's stone one last look before he turned back to the entrance and walked back home. The ANBU from earlier had disappeared before he had the chance to see him.

* * *

><p>Naruto moaned and buried his head back into bed as he awoke the next morning in his new bedroom.<p>

In an act of random kindness, Iruka and Anko had worked together to decorate and finish the guest bedroom at last. Naruto's new bedroom was a reasonable size, a little smaller than Iruka's but it was still comfortable, spacious, and warm. Iruka and Anko decorated the walls with unique wallpaper that resembled stone, but a few red curtains were added to make the room look and feel warm as winter approached fast. Naruto's bed was a medium size, softer, warmer, and far more comfortable than the old mattress where he used to live as he sank back into the scarlet and beige sheets. The blonde rookie moaned before he crawled out of bed and stretched. He looked around at his bedside table where he left his wand, a few kunai, shuriken, a glass of water, and the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5. Across from his bed, the blonde wizard saw some of his other books and scrolls stacked on his new desk, with his lamp, the trunk beside his bed, emptied as he filled his dresser and closet with his best clothes and spare weapons.

After the blonde rookie stretched his toes and clicked his neck, he walked back to his older brother's room. He opened the door and saw Iruka as he snored and drooled. The chunin dreamt in bliss since he was on another date with Anko the previous night and didn't come back until it was late. The blonde child looked to the alarm clock and flicked his wand at it when it started to scream. He then etched over to his older brother and started to shake him awake. Iruka almost bolted out from bed and snorted several times before he was awake at last and sat at the end of his bed with his face still dazed and tired. He still smiled and took a breath of fresh air as he stretched out.

"Hmmm... Good mornin', bud..." he mused with a smile and ruffled his little brother's hair.

"We don't wanna be late," the blonde rookie said.

Iruka nodded and Naruto left started to make breakfast. The tan chunin scratched his stomach as he walked to the shower to wash the stench from the date with Anko. While Naruto started to dish out the eggs, butter, and bread, he leaned over to the schedule he and Iruka made that balanced their time between school, teams, and time to aid the other citizens to rebuild Konoha back to it's former brilliance.

In the time since the invasion, the streets were flooded with used weapons, debris, and in some cases blood stained on the walls and windows. Iruka dedicated a lot of his time to restore the Academy ever since it was bombarded in several locations, such as the main entrance hall and several classrooms were obliterated. Naruto assisted at the school whenever he could, to use his magic in secret and restored several windows and even two entire classrooms.

Iruka was left in charge with overseeing the Academy's reconstruction now that the school was without a head instructor. With the disappearance of the incompetent Daikoku and due to his leadership evacuating the children, it was decided that Iruka was now the new head instructor. With Iruka behind the desk of the main office, he filed out all of the forms and made it so that the windows and classrooms that Naruto fixed were not in the official damage reports. He did this so no one would notice several windows were magically restored on the record. His little brother worked hard on the repairs and even started enchanting the building so that it could withstand much more destructive forces than the ones that attacked it from the recent invasion.

But this time, Naruto would have to return to his team and leave Iruka at the restoration of the school with the remaining staff members that were available to assist him. He started breakfast with some eggs, toast, thick slices of bacon, and some orange juice with all the pulp removed with magic. While he cooked their breakfast, he listened to Iruka use his share of the hot water for the shower and switched on the radio with his wand. When Naruto was done, he sat at the kitchen table and consumed his own food rather quickly and had Iruka's plate at the seat next to his. When the chunin arrived, dressed and set to take on the day, he thanked Naruto for the food when he ruffled his hair and kissed his head before the kid smiled and took off to take his shower and a tinkle.

Iruka waited until Naruto was dressed to leave, in one of his old vibrant tracksuits, since his new outfit from the Chunin Exams was incinerated in the invasion. Naruto appreciated that his older brother risked tardiness to wish him luck on his missions and ruffled his hair one more time before he had to rush out back to school. He watched his guardian bolt out through the front door and collected his book bag before he looked back one more time.

"Have a good time on missions, Naruto!" he said as he left.

The blonde-haired kid smiled as the front door closed and he said, "Have fun at work, Headmaster."

* * *

><p>Seventeen minutes later, Naruto arrived at the reservoir and saw Sasuke lean back on the rail over the water. He still wore that ridiculous black Uchiha chunin outfit, even though the exams were cancelled and none of the rookies made it to the chunin rank. Naruto overlooked that detail when Sakura came out from around the stoic Uchiha and went on to adore him. When Naruto arrived, both of his teammates turned their heads and Sakura actually smiled at her blonde-haired teammate for once, she even waved and beckoned at Naruto. Ever since the Chunin Exams, Sakura treated Naruto as if he were one of her closest friends and became a lot more sociable with him, even after their missions. One of the reasons she was so nice to him now, was due to the fact that Sasuke had told her the truth about what happened when she was unconscious during the invasion and the fight with the jinchuuriki from Sunagakure.<p>

"Naruto," she called over to him, "Over here!"

The blonde rookie waved his hand to her and smiled, "Sakura-chan! Still having a good morning with all this rubbish piled everywhere?"

"Rubbish?" the red-dressed kunoichi still wasn't familiar with her teammate's unusual words but she was fast this time and understood what he meant, "Yeah, there's still a lot of debris around where I live, but nothing to be too hot and bothered about."

Before Naruto and Sakura could continue, Kakashi decided to arrive several hours earlier than usual. Both the blonde-haired wizard and his older brother heard the swift sound of the instructor's arrival when he landed on the arch above his students. The masked teacher acted as if the Chunin Exams never even happened as he waved down to his students, and Naruto wasn't happy about that.

"Hi there," he waved, "Good morning we're having, huh?"

Naruto frowned as Kakashi arrived and caused Sakura to forget about her earlier conversation as she scold their teacher for his sudden arrival. He then moaned when Kakashi told the three of them that the team had another D-Rank mission to do, but had to walk to see Sarutobi in his office to receive the information on their client. Sakura didn't seem to mind while Sasuke frowned and looked out to the forest and flexed his hands, like he was focused on another matter on his mind. Naruto, on the other hand, seemed cross with his teacher. Kakashi had not trained all three of them together since the Land of Waves, never received lessons, lectured them, or ever addressed his exact reasons behind his decision to leave with Sasuke. But even so, he still followed his teacher with his teammates.

Kakashi then announced, "Now then, we have a mission to do! Let's move!"

* * *

><p>The team arrived at the Administration Building and made it to the Hokage's office in no time at all. After the five of them climbed the staircases to the highest floor, the team turned down a corridor that curved and entered the central offices located outside the main office where Sarutobi worked to the bone. Kakashi led his students to the front desk outside the double doors of the Hokage's office to meet the kind receptionist the old man had hired to assist him.<p>

"We're here to see the Hokage for a mission," the masked shinobi stated.

The brown-haired woman smiled and said, "Very well. You four came at the best time! It's not for another five minutes before the next rush of shinobi comes in. At that time, all the shinobi in Konoha are stuck in here for work. You four can go right in now."

Kakashi bowed his head to the woman and led his students through the double doors. When the team entered, the four of them discovered that Sarutobi's office was now flooded with stacks of forms and various paperwork. The Sandaime was somewhere behind a maze of white mountainous stacks, but the team was able to see his iconic red and white hat. Naruto noticed damage reports and insurance forms amidst hundreds of other sheets and stacks, several of them included mission requests from civilians and outside-village clients. He also saw this one form that turned out to be a list of the rookies that had succeeded in the Chunin Exams and made the cut. But before Naruto could kneel down and read the document, Kakashi called out to their old leader for his attention.

"Team 7 has arrived for their mission, sir," he said to the hidden old man.

Naruto tried to look over the documents in the room when he heard a loud, wheezing cough from behind the desk in the office. Sarutobi set aside one stack of forms so that he could see the team and Naruto almost screamed when he saw his face:

The old man looked like he hadn't slept in over a month; his face was even more wrinkled than the last time he saw him and his skin had turned a sordid shade of yellow. It looked like his health had deteriorated in the time since he last saw him at the memorial service. He seemed ill at the time, but his condition had worsened since then. The older wizard inside the mindscape almost covered his mouth with his hand when it looked like the old man had grown older and weaker. Naruto picked up a horrible smell radiate from the old man, as it smelled like he hadn't bathed in weeks. The blonde rookie felt the need to cover his nose as the others simply ignored it.

The Sandaime wheezed and then removed one sheet on his desk, "Your mission… will be… for a local farmer, who requires the assistance… of shinobi to deliver water to one of his… water towers... Do you feel that you and your team are up to it, Kakashi?"

The old leader had to take time between his sentences to clear his throat, as if he had smoked over five thousand cigarettes in the last minute. This sudden alteration in his grandfather's appearance and health frightened the blonde-haired shinobi down to his core, but for whatever reason, his teammates and sensei didn't seem to notice or care. Naruto looked at Kakashi and waited for him to ask the old man what was the matter with him. But the masked teacher remained as oblivious as his two teammates.

"We'll take it, Hokage-sama. Thanks," the silver-haired shinobi answered.

Kakashi took the form from the old man's withered hands after he walked around all the stacks and forms scattered around the office. Once he had the information, he soon retreated back to his students and bid the old man farewell with a bow of his head. Naruto couldn't resist and looked back at his leader as he started to shrink back into his seat and wheeze. When the doors closed, the assistant from outside the office rushed inside with medicine and a glass of water.

The blonde-haired rookie looked up to his teacher and asked, "Sensei, what was the matter with the old man? He looked so ill…"

"Naruto, focus on the mission." he answered back in a rather cold voice.

The blonde rookie was a little bit shocked that he didn't take his concerns about their ruler into account and went on to focus on their irrelevant mission. His older brother frowned at the instructor and crossed his arms in disdain. Naruto soon sunk his head and continued to walk with his teammates, doing as his sensei had told him: focus on the mission.

* * *

><p>About a half hour later, Kakashi and his team marched back to the water reservoir. Once the five of them arrived, the team rounded several silver barrels full of water and hauled them onto a horse-drawn cart. Once the rookies had them loaded into the carriage, the team had to lead the horses and the cart to their destination, located on a farm in the far eastern fields. The team led the animals through forest trail while their teacher sat down on the barrels and continued to read the latest volume of Icha-Icha Violence.<p>

Naruto seldom looked at his teacher as he and the others tried their best to get the over-worked animals motivated to move a little faster. The blonde-haired shinobi watched his teacher as he read his lecherous book and became irritated at him more and more for his lack of contribution to the missions' success. After fifteen minutes, he called over to him to ask for a little assistance.

"You know," he suggested, "You could come down here and help us, sensei!"

Kakashi turned to the next page in his book and answered, "Nah. You three seem to have it covered."

Both Naruto and his invisible older brother shot identical frustrated looks at the masked instructor before the students went back to work. In about fifteen minutes, the road turned a corner before it smoothed out into the flatlands. Harry soon smirked and leaned in to suggest something to his little brother, that made the rookie giggle. Unable to resist a little mischief, he slid his wand from his sleeve. The blonde rookie made sure he was careful before he aimed his wand at the back of the horse on the left. Without warning, there was a subtle flash of orange light and the horse was frightened. The creature neighed and then bolted ahead of the second horse. The carriage shook and Kakashi was thrown off balance, falling between two barrels of water with a loud thud before the horses bolted down the road with him in tow.

"OOF," and then he shouted, "ARGHHHHHHH! OH MY GOD!"

Harry was surprised at the sudden turn of events. He hadn't planned for the horses to run off at all, but the unexpected chaos still made him roar with laughter, unable to hold it in. The rookie students scrambled after their teacher in concern when he reached the end of the road and came to a sudden halt. Naruto stopped smiling and ran after the carriage when his simple attempt to make the horses shake the carriage did far more than he intended.

Naruto shouted, "Kakashi-sensei!"

When the students reached the carriage and the horses, Kakashi had some trouble as he crawled out of the cart, completely unharmed. He was covered with dust and his hair was a total mess when the ride was over, causing the older wizard to fall off of his bed and hold his ribs as he laughed harder than he had in a long time. The silver-haired teacher fixed his hair, dusted his clothes, and un-wrinkled the crumbled pages of Icha-Icha Violence before he stuffed it back in his trousers.

"What the _hell_ was _that_ all about?!" the teacher asked as he looked back at the horses.

Sakura shook her head and said, "I don't know! The horses must have been spooked!"

"It must have been a wild animal," said Sasuke as he started looking around, "I sensed something and could have sworn that I saw a ferret run through here a second ago."

Naruto retorted back at his rival, "I didn't see a ferret, teme! You're such a liar!"

Kakashi did not utter a word as he looked over all his students to see which one of them held back laughter. He watched all three of his students, but then he turned to one student he was correct to suspect based on his first impression of him. He watched Naruto for one second, but the blonde-haired rookie didn't intend for his prank to work so well, as he looked as dumbfounded as his teammates were. Kakashi failed to see that his student was responsible for the incident with the horse and dismissed it all as an accident.

"It doesn't matter," he said as he shrugged the incident off, "Let's move on with the mission. We have a lot of work to do."

As Kakashi walked with the horses and assisted his students, Naruto walked with the other horse and rubbed its mane and fed it a small snack to comfort it. The blonde shinobi heard his invisible brother chuckle inside his subconscious.

"Such a wonderful horse, Bucktooth," he comforted the poor creature, "Here's a bit of cake for the trouble."

* * *

><p>Within the next seven minutes, the team hauled the horse-drawn cart to their destination at the local farm; it was an isolated area within Konoha that manufactured a lot of local-sold food and materials in the markets downtown. Their mission was to deliver the water from the reservoir over to the farm; the farmers needed the water earlier than usual because their original water tower was blown out in the invasion. Team 7 had to fill the new tower with water, which required the team to return to the reservoir and re-fill at least three or four more times. It took Kakashi and his students at least two hours to finish their first mission and the client rewarded the instructor and his students for their efforts with cash and a free lunch. Kakashi divided the cash and Naruto received so much that he could afford an actual wallet soon. Once it was his birthday, he could look for one.<p>

The team bid their client farewell and returned the horses to their lawful owners before their sensei decided to make an announcement at the divided road.

"Listen up, team," said Kakashi, "We're going to stop here and pick this up next week."

Naruto and Harry were both surprised at the teacher's unusual decision. It was one o'clock in the afternoon and there was a lot of time left to burn on more missions. But Kakashi insisted that the Sandaime's office would be too crowded to receive a decent mission before the offices would close down. The wizard observed the teacher from the mindscape didn't believe it for one minute. He could tell that the jounin was lying. But Sakura didn't seem to mind it, while Sasuke looked as if he wanted to be somewhere else. It was at this time that the wizard noticed the Uchiha give Kakashi the slightest of nods and looked over to see the masked shinobi nod back to him. The wizard narrowed his eyes at the gesture while his little brother remained somewhat oblivious as he listened to his teacher until he was dismissed.

Kakashi said with another one of his famous masked smiles, "Now, I have to turn in our mission documents. But let's meet back here next week for another mission. Go ahead, return home, and have a wonderful weekend!"

As the other two rookies walked home, Naruto remained where he stood, mulled over the horse fiasco. He wanted to apologize, even though he was still a bit angry with his sensei when he broke the promise he made back at the Land of Waves. It would have been nice if he got over his anger with a little bit of training with his sensei, maybe giving him the opportunity he needed to apologize then and fix their teamwork. Plus, it only seemed fair to him and Harry as Sasuke received special, exclusive training for an entire month. Naruto walked up to his teacher, and reached out to him with a kind and sincere voice.

"Kakashi-sensei?" he asked.

The jounin instructor turned around and looked from his book and sighed in exasperation.

"Listen, I wanted to ask-"

But Kakashi interrupted him and said, "Stop right there. I already know what you're going to ask. I can't train you today."

"Why?" the blonde-haired kid asked as his face showed subtle frustration, "Why can't you train me, sensei?"

His teacher answered in an uninterested voice, "I have other matters to handle. I don't have time to deal with you, Naruto."

"Let me take a wild guess," the small rookie started and then he stated in a voice that sounded an awful lot like Iruka whenever he talked down to a misbehaved student, "You're going to wait until I leave so that you can go and train with Sasuke instead. Aren't you, Kakashi-sensei?"

The masked shinobi blinked at what his student had said, but then he said in a more relaxed tone, "Now that's not the reason why and you know it. Besides, if you really need to train, then why don't you do the tree-climbing exercise and practice on your chakra control?"

"I've mastered that technique at the Land of Waves, sensei. You know that," the blonde child said back as he sounded a lot like his chunin-level older brother, "Can't you teach me something else just to be fair and level out the playing field between me and Sasuke? Like the Chidori? Can't you teach me a jutsu that's at least similar to it? Please?"

Kakashi sensed Iruka's influence within Naruto's tone, and in a moment, his demeanor switched from nonchalant to somewhat cold and rude as he talked down to his student as if he were the same chunin that broke his nose in the arena, "You're not mature enough to handle those kind of techniques. You should work on your chakra control instead, like the other Academy students. It's still some of the worst I've ever seen."

"What?" he blinked.

The masked sensei talked down to his student and almost believed he talked down to the troublesome chunin that humiliated him in front of his comrades, "Out of all of the members of our team, you're the one whose basic skills need the most work. Let's be realistic here for one moment. You wouldn't be able to master those kinds of techniques. If you really want to become strong, then I insist that you start over and focus on the fundamentals. If you want some more advice, then I suggest you stop being so defiant and learn to stay in line where you belong."

Naruto stood there as still as a statue as his chest felt twisted from inside at his teacher's words. He wanted to shout something back at him, but he was so taken aback at Kakashi's sudden switch in attitude that he couldn't think of what to shout back at him. His invisible older brother, on the other hand, stared at the teacher for what he said. Harry frowned at Kakashi as all the respect he once held for him vanished.

Kakashi then said as if he didn't have a care in the world, "You'll have to excuse me now, Naruto, I have a lot of work to file out. Have a nice weekend."

The masked man turned his back on his student and left him alone. While he walked down the street, he almost turned his head to look back at Naruto with a look of subtle reluctance as he reflected on his words and actions.

'_I know that was harsh, but it had to be done, as instructed… Jiraiya will take over from here, like he said he would._'

The small blonde rookie frowned at his teacher when he turned his back on him. He resisted the intense desire to take out his wand and hex him while his back was turned. Kakashi broke his trust, hurt his feelings, and now made him lose his faith in him. But the blonde-haired wizard held his wand back and decided to investigate what his teacher valued more than time and attention to the students he swore he would teach and care for.

'_I won't let this slide! I wanna know what that jerk thinks is more important than teamwork!_'

'_**Count me in! I want to see what he does when he's not clocked in. Let's move it now! Allons-y!**_'

* * *

><p>Harry assisted Naruto to hide his presence and made him invisible to his sensei as he followed him. With stealth on his side, the blonde-haired wizard traversed across Konoha, hidden behind trees, walls, construction sites, and fat civilians with wide backs as his sensei walked to the Sandaime's office. Naruto waited outside the Administration Building for five minutes before he left. It confirmed Kakashi had lied to him about all the work he claimed he needed done as he read his red book and headed towards one of the numerous training grounds.<p>

The blonde-haired wizard, still invisible to his sensei, followed him into the woods until he entered a training area filled with boulders and trees. Naruto hid beneath a bush in the distance while he watched his teacher walk to the center of the field. The masked shinobi waited for several minutes before a dark outline came out from over the boulder Kakashi leaned on.

"You took a while, Kakashi, " said a familiar voice, "You were supposed to be here five minutes ago."

Sasuke landed close to his sensei with fresh, new armbands. While Naruto watched the Uchiha walk over to Kakashi, he felt his heart break as his suspicions were confirmed: Kakashi had trained with Sasuke ever since after the Chunin Exams were over and left his other students out of it. The masked shinobi had lied right to his face as Kakashi took a breath and turned towards Sasuke.

He answered his student with, "Gomenasai, Sasuke. Your little blonde friend held me back for a while after the mission. He asked me about me training him."

"And what did you tell him?" the teen asked.

Kakashi hesitated for a moment before he told the Uchiha heir in a confident voice, "Let's not think about that. You know how it is with Naruto, so I wouldn't be worried. We both know Naruto isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer."

"At least we won't be bothered with the dobe," the Uchiha muttered to himself.

The masked shinobi didn't waste more time and started their session with a taijutsu match.

{{_Family Photo by John Williams_}}

Back under the bush behind the trees, the blonde wizard frowned with his mouth slightly open. He couldn't believe what he saw and heard from his teacher. At that moment, the blonde wizard didn't feel like apologizing as much as he did earlier, while another [more dominant] side of him wanted to come out of the bushes and confront his teacher and his teammate. He soon stood up, about to reach for his wand as he marched after the duo with no restraints.

"That bastard, lying, son of a-"

Before he could march out from the bushes and face them, Naruto felt a soft but firm hand on his shoulder hold him back. The blonde-haired kid looked over his shoulder in shock but calmed down soon after. It was Anko and she looked down at Naruto with a look he had never seen on her face. She looked sad, but also looked like she understood how he felt.

"A-Anko," he stammered and then he asked, "What are you doing here?"

She frowned before she looked on to see Kakashi with Sasuke from across the field, "Watching you getting lied to and double-crossed by your teacher, I guess."

"You've noticed," he answered, bitter as he felt.

The woman looked back down at Naruto and smiled a little bit when he reminded her of herself when she was a kid. She recognized the heartbroken look on his face, the same look she saw in the mirror after Orochimaru abandoned her. Anko reached down and rubbed a small tear that had fallen from his face and talked to him in an uncommon maternal voice.

"Lion cub, I understand what it's like to be on that end of the stick," she then smiled and held him in a warm embrace, "Trust me."

Anko looked back to see Kakashi lecture Sasuke about how he can increase the number of times he could use the Chidori and she had seen more than her fair share. She turned her back to the jounin and decided to take the blonde rookie back with her.

"Come on," she said, "Let's ditch these losers."

* * *

><p>{{<em>Hermione Is Petrified by John Williams<em>}}

About an hour later, he and Anko were settled down at a table at the Amaguriama. With some of the store in dire need of construction, the employees set benches and tables outside. Anko made all of the orders as she let Naruto sit down on one of the benches. When she came back, Anko treated Naruto to some dango, while she treated herself to most of them. After the two of them had some of their fill, the two of them talked for a little bit.

Naruto learned more about Anko and a little bit about her older teacher, Orochimaru. She revealed that she had the exact same curse mark on her neck as Sasuke. She also informed Naruto of the fear that almost consumed her when it tried to take her over before it was sealed and how the citizens of Konoha treated her and shunned her. A lot of the Konoha citizens treated her as such because she was a student of one of the most notorious and traitorous men to ever be born in Konoha.

The blonde-haired teen soon said, "I had no idea… He did all that?"

"Yeah, all because of him," she answered, "Orochimaru used me as a test subject for the curse mark, turned his back on me, and cursed me with this forsaken curse… Because of this mark, the people around me came to hate and fear me because it was like a mark that connected me to him… I went from the talk of the town to as low as a common road whore… At least that's how the other citizens treated me, like I was some freak of nature."

Naruto looked at the mark as Anko lowered the collar of her coat for him to see. It looked identical to the one on Sasuke's neck and had the same seal around it to contain the curse. Naruto shivered when he saw it and felt bad for Anko.

"That mark," he hesitated and then asked, "Does it ever hurt?"

She rubbed it out of habit and told him, "Not all the time... But when it does, it feels like someone is drilling a hole into it… Orochimaru was able to activate it when I last confronted him in the Forest of Death. It felt as if the curse was about to take me over… It hurt so much and it almost consumed me, like the first time... It was unbearable... it wasn't until the Sandaime saved me and fixed it did it start to feel better… With a little luck, I'll be able to remove this damn curse in about twelve hundred years from now… Thanks, Orochimaru-sensei…"

"What a freak," answered the blonde-haired wizard.

Anko nodded after she downed some sake and took another bite of one of her favorite-flavored dumplings. The blonde rookie looked at his collection of sweets on the table and looked over at Anko's collection, intent to steal one or two of them if she didn't notice. But then his mind turned back to his own situation. He started to feel like he shouldn't complain about his sensei after he soaked in Anko's relationship with Orochimaru.

"After all that, it looks like I don't have much of a right to complain about Kakashi-sensei," he said.

Anko almost choked on her next bite and started a furious rant, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME, LION CUB?! You have all the right in the world to be pissed at Kakashi! He ditched you in favor of your rival and taught him one of the most intense assassination techniques in existence! He seriously endangered your chances in the finals in favor of some kid who really didn't need the special treatment he kept getting! Kakashi should have kicked the Uchiha out of the exams, like I said he should have! If not, he could have trained both of you at the same time! He can create shadow clones too! He had no reason not to! You're not from a famous clan and don't have an ace in the hole at the same level as the frickin' Chidori and Sharingan! And he's still going around and treating Sasuke Uchiha like he's the messiah! If I had to deal with a sensei like him, I would have maimed the bastard by now…"

While Anko continued to rant, Naruto frowned. He took in her words and started to feel embarrassed, frustrated, and a little heartbroken. He had a short flashback to when he saw Kakashi arrived with Sasuke in the arena, back to back, and felt even worse when he flashed back to his rival when he used the Chidori for the first time and what Kakashi had said, as the audience sat in awe when he struck Gaara's sand dome: that he chose to take on Sasuke because of how similar the Uchiha was to him.

Back in the real world, Naruto felt his cheeks blush as he lowered his head and hid his face with his hair while he untied his headband.

"I feel like an idiot," he said after he was reminded of his teacher's most recent actions and hurtful words, "He promised me he wouldn't turn his back on me and he went ahead and did it. Twice."

Anko had calmed down from her rant and said as she rubbed Naruto's back, "I trusted Orochimaru because he chose me as his student out of all the other kunoichi in the entire village. Back when he was still a respectable man, it was considered an honor to have one of the Sannin as a teacher. I thought I could trust him and he ended up using me like another rat in his lab."

"I don't know what to do now," he said as he seemed to calm down, but his jealous resentment didn't simmer, "What can I do?"

Anko answered him with implications, "Well... if that old bastard Orochimaru were still around and if I were still a kid, I would have done whatever it took to drive him insane... At least teach him a lesson that wouldn't result in his immediate death."

Naruto remained silent as he fiddled with his cleaned sticks and drummed them on the table. It was until he ceased his drum solo did a humorous little idea come to mind. The blonde-haired shinobi froze in his seat before he started to crack a mischievous smile.

"I have an idea," he said in a mischievous tone.

Anko looked at him and noticed the mischievous look and soon it was like she could read his mind, "Yeah?"

"You remember what I was like before Iruka-aniki sorted me out?" he asked and then said with an enthusiastic voice, "Let's teach Kakashi-sensei a lesson he'll remember for the rest of his life! How about it? You want in?!"

The kunoichi stared at him and then she smiled. Anko then stood tall before she threw her fist in the air with a fierce fire in her voice. While Anko busied herself with swirling thoughts of glorious mischief, Naruto took the chance to consume the last two sticks on Anko's share of sweets.

"Yes," she shouted, "What better thrill can come from the adrenaline rush of a classic prank?! LET'S GO, NARUTO!"

She turned around in time to see the blonde-haired kid eat the last of her food; the sweets stuffed in his mouth and his face frozen with the look of horrific shock on his face. Anko became furious and rolled her sleeves back before she cracked her knuckles.

"YOU LITTLE BRAT!" she screamed and then moved in to claw him, "THAT'S MY DANGO!"

Naruto ducked from her claws and ran as fast as he could while he chuckled and ducked under an attack of used wooden stick, like senbon needles, "FINDERS KEEPERS, NEE-CHAN!"

* * *

><p>{{<em>The Bus Stop by John Williams<em>}}

After the incident with the sweets, Anko was able catch Naruto and he received a noogie of epic proportions. With that behind them, the two of them set out for Kakashi's house. When the duo reached the door to the apartment, Anko tried to unlock the door with a senbon she had hidden in her cleavage. Once she unlocked the door, Anko and Naruto walked inside and searched the rooms in case Kakashi was there. Naruto went ahead of Anko and took out his wand in secret. Once the two of them checked to see that Kakashi was still out with Sasuke, the blonde-haired rookie hid his wand and reunited with Anko to discuss their plans.

"What should we do?" she asked, "I remember that incident with Daikoku Funeno! You filled his old office with mud, right? What if we took the water in Kakashi's toilet and leave a treat for him at the front door? No, that's not evil enough. How about we set snares for him and see how many he can avoid until he's hit? Wait, no, we need to do something more fitting…"

While Anko rambled on about each wonderful and horrid action, Naruto channeled her out and focused on what his older brother had in mind. The much older wizard smirked and instructed Naruto the ultimate revenge that wasn't too cruel or too childish. And as a bonus, it was so elaborate that Kakashi would not be able to determine who did it. Naruto's face stretched with a sinister smile that would have caused the demon fox to shiver.

"No," he said to Anko with that devilish smile, "I have a much better idea, Anko-nee. I don't want to hurt him. Just see him go nuts for a little bit."

The blonde-haired rookie led the woman into Kakashi's bedroom and searched the walls for what he wanted. He showed her the bookshelves embedded into the wall above Kakashi's bed and smiled back at Anko. On the shelves were the almost endless spines of every single volume or novella centered inside of the Make-Out Paradise universe. He searched towards the beginning and the end of his teacher's collection and removed the oldest and newest editions of the series; the ones he assumed were the most replaceable as well as the most valuable. He checked for other copies hidden under the bed, the furniture in the other rooms, and searched every crevice where a book could be hidden.

He asked her once his search was done, "What would an _obsessed_ collector of such _fine literature_ do if one or two of his favorite books were to vanish out of thin?"

"Naruto, he would find newer ones," she answered as she crossed her arms.

But then he asked her in an excited and eccentric attitude, "Yes, but how would he react if there were none of them left in Konoha buy? Since no one can leave the village without a serious mission that's available once every few months for shinobi with students under their belts, how would he (a teacher of three students) be able to find the time to recover another book if none in Konoha are left? A few hours? Weeks? Or how about a few months without his two favorites?"

"Ooooh," she smiled when she came to realize, "You are so evil… I love it!"

With that said, Naruto tucked the books into his beaded rucksack.

* * *

><p>{{<em>Kick Some Ass by Stroke 9<em>}}

About one hour later, Anko and Naruto ventured to all of the bookstores in town and purchased all the copies of Kakashi Hatake's two favorite volumes of the Make-Out Paradise series. While this would look like an extreme waste of money, Anko was fortunate that her small blonde friend had a talent with the Confundus Charm. Whenever she was with Naruto, the cashier at each bookstore unexpectedly announced a sale on Make-Out Paradise for no more than a few credits.

This fortunate turn of events made Anko all the more excited and Naruto all the more satisfied. Each time the two of them heard the low prices; he slid his wand back into his sleeve and Anko was none-the-wiser.

When the two of them finished their purchases and cleared Konoha of all the specific Make-Out Paradise and Icha-Icha Violence volumes, Anko and Naruto ran to the middle of a field in the local park. Anko and Naruto both carried massive brown rucksacks filled to the brim with books with age-restriction marks laced all over them. The two of them threw the sacks into the dirt and watched the countless books flood out at their feet. Naruto and Anko smiled at each other, almost unable to contain their excitement.

"You still want to do this, Nee-chan?" he asked.

The woman answered, "You don't have to ask me!"

"Then in the words of Iruka Umino: GERONIMO!" he said back.

Anko cracked her knuckles and clicked her neck before she bit her thumb and summoned a small cloud of smoke. Naruto ducked down, and reached for the first obscene book he could reach. The blonde teen reeled back his arm and threw the book into the air, like a Frisbee. Anko then let out a shout and out from the white smoke, five dark snakes flew out from her sleeve and tore the book into a million shreds. The attack was so fast and the snakes did such clean work that the book could have been blown to bits with a bomb. Naruto bounced into the air and started laughing while Anko let out a delightful squeal. The blonde-haired teen then reached for another book and Anko order her animal summons to return. Naruto tossed the book above his head, and Anko sent to snakes out to take it down. Naruto was showered with shredded bits of his sensei's favorite literature while he held his arms out and swirl in circles

"Yeah!" he cried out.

Anko threw her fist into the air and shouted, "Got it!"

This continued over a hundred times, and each time Anko and Naruto ruined one of Kakashi's beloved series, the more delighted the two of them felt as the field became filled with the sounds of a brother and sister bond.

"Oh! You almost had that one!"

"BULLS-EYE!"

"YES! I DID IT!"

"YOU GOT IT!"

"There's another!"

"Ahh!"

"I GOT IT!"

"I almost missed that one!"

"There's another!"

"YES!"

"YEAH!"

"WOO-HOO!"

Within no time at all the field was covered in the shredded remains of the Icha-Icha book series as more bits and shreds rained down from the heavens like snow. Naruto had fallen down and started to make angels out of the remains on the field while Anko sat down, exhausted from the amount of chakra she used while her snakes slithered around the field, curious about their environment. Anko then order her summons to shred whatever books were left in the rucksacks while she and Naruto rested on the result of the ultimate prank. When the mood calmed down, Anko embraced Naruto and held him close to her like an older sister would and even kissed the crown of his head out of affection. The blonde-haired shinobi blushed and smiled as he leaned close to Anko. Once the snakes had ruined the last of the books, Anko looked down at her little friend and smiled.

The snake mistress then asked him, "How about we have another round of dango at the Amaguriama, little Leo?"

"Great," he beamed as he carried the rucksack that contained the remains of the books, "But can I have more than two sticks this time?"

The woman snorted and answered, "No! You can have two of them and no more!"

"Oh, come on!" he whined.

Anko shook her head and gestured him to follow her out of the park, "That's for that little stunt from earlier! You never stand between a woman and her sweets!"

"Does that include _Iruka-kun_?" he asked as he teased his older sister.

The lavender-haired woman swathed her arm around his neck and teased the teen as the two of them walked, "Oh, knock it off!"

* * *

><p>For the next hour or so, Naruto and Anko munched down on a mini-marathon of sweets. This was then followed with a sword fighting contest the sticks for their sweets. The two of them scared several of the other customers as their outrageous antics went too far when the two of them danced on the table. Anko and Naruto were soon asked to leave when but went for a short walk until it was sunset. Anko dropped Naruto off at Iruka's house and the two of them waved each other, their smiles still on their faces ever since the book shredding at the local park.<p>

The teen breathed and continued to nibble on whatever flavor remain on his sweet stick as he watched Anko lift her hand in farewell and walked down the street. Once she was gone, Naruto removed his wand and unlocked the front door. He abandoned his coat on the wooden chair next to the door and saw Iruka was in the kitchen. The tan-skinned man was now in his leisure outfit that consisted of his normal shinobi pants and his one dark-red t-shirt that showed off the details of his muscles. He still had his headband wrapped around his head and had made a snack for himself after work.

"Hi there," the older man greeted from inside the kitchen, "You have a good time on your missions?"

"No," the teen answered with a frown, but then he smirked as he entered the living room and said, "But in the end, it all worked out well enough."

Naruto sat on the couch and stretched out his toes.

Iruka sat down next to him with his sandwich, loaded with various deli meats and some lettuce, then he asked after his first bite, "Did I miss something?"

The blonde-haired rookie went into detail about the events while his older brother ate his sandwich. But when Naruto reached the details with his sensei, Iruka furrowed his eyebrows and left his unfinished sandwich alone. He became too furious to think about food at the moment and started to crack his knuckles like he had a lot more work to do.

"You want me to talk to him or kick his ass?" he asked in a serious voice, "Please ask me to kick his ass."

Naruto shook his head and said with a smile, "No need for it. I got him back and then some!"

"You did?" he asked, "How?"

* * *

><p>At the same time Naruto went into detail with his tale, a certain silver-haired teacher had returned home to relax and read. He kicked off his sandals and unzipped his flak jacket before closing the door behind him and waited for the click of the lock. When he took the first step into the apartment, Kakashi felt like something was different. He turned his head upward and sniffed the air to pick up a mixed scent. The man's lone eye squint in suspicion before he lifted his arm and took a whiff of himself. He then coughed and shrugged it off as his own stench.<p>

"Phew," he commented, "I need a shower!"

He threw his flak jacket on the couch as he made his way to his bedroom. He scratched at his behind while he made his way to his desk and checked over the red Icha-Icha Violence book he left on a few old documents. He zoomed through the pages of his book before he sighed and placed it back in its rightful place with the rest of his collection. Just as he was about to turn around and take a shower, he couldn't help but notice that he missed two small volumes. He checked the numbers and realized that two of his favorite volumes of Icha-Icha Violence and Make-Out Paradise had vanished. He started searching his entire bedroom for those two books and it didn't take long for him to start to panic. He tore apart his mattress and removed all other books from his room that were not marked with the signature age-restriction label. He rampaged through his other possessions and checked within the smallest crevices of the apartment in search of his two most valuable novels. He searched his kitchen and tossed out his couch cushions. When his apartment was upside-down, he collapsed onto the floor in the middle of his apartment and cried comical alligator tears. It felt like a lightning storm went off behind him and his entire world cracked.

"Where..." he then cried to the heavens, "WHERE EVER HAVE YOU GONE, MY PRECIOUS EROTIC LITERATURE?!"

* * *

><p>Iruka smiled with utter delight, "He's gonna go insane..."<p>

"I know," Naruto then smiled, "Isn't that brilliant?!"

The chunin opened his arms in welcome, "I am so proud to call you my little brother! Come here!"

Naruto lunged into the embrace and smiled when the chunin patted him on the back before the two of them clicked on the television. Back in the mindscape, the older wizard sat back in his chair.

'_**You do realize that he's going to kill you if he ever finds out, right?**_'

'_I had my arm broken last month and almost died, I'd like to see what he could do._'

All was calm and quiet for the next couple of minutes, the two shinobi sitting back and watching television. But then, as the commercial was about to run, the chunin on the couch opened his eyes when he thought of something genius. It must have been some kind of an impulse that he managed to suppress for about a decade, back when he used to be an expert prankster.

"Hold on a second," he said, "You still have those books? The shredded remains?"

"Yeah," he answered after looking back at the door.

The tan-skinned chunin scrambled to the telephone and said, "I have an idea!"

* * *

><p>To Be Continued…<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, before I receive a thousand emails requesting that I pair Naruto with Anko as a couple, IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! Not that I have anything against the pairing or anybody that enjoys it out there, it's just that I find the idea of a young boy hooking up with a fully grown woman (Anko, Kurenai, Tsunami, Tsunade, Shizune) to be bonkers. I really never understood why some fics out there, harems and normal pairings alike choose to pair him with women who are significantly older than him.<strong>

**AZ44: Did somebody mention saucy pairings?**

**K: Save it, you pinky wafer! Anyway, I look forward to reading your reviews, guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll work hard on the next one, covering Naruto's thirteenth birthday!**


	3. October 10th

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

* * *

><p><strong>Hello friends and readers! And welcome to the new chapter!<strong>

**There's not much I can say about this chapter without spoiling anything, but I do look forward to reading your reactions to the continuation of the prank on Kakashi. This chapter originally was going to feature the Tokubetsu more prominently, like Genma, Raido, Aoba, Ibiki, and include Izumo, Kotetsu, and Yugao Uzuki as well. But I decided to hold them off until the next chapter.**

**I don't know what else to tell you guys without spoiling what happens in the chapter. So let's skip right on ahead to the story :D**

**I hope you guys like it and I look forward to reading your reviews!**

* * *

><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling**

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: October 10th<p>

* * *

><p>The following morning in the village was one that would be remembered for ages. There was a loud and furious roar from one of the most levelheaded shinobi in Konoha. The sound of his roar echoed throughout the entire town, and caused several civilians and shinobi alike to turn their heads. It all started at a local bookstore sometime around noon. Several minutes after he visited that one local bookstore, Kakashi Hatake zoomed across town from bookstore to bookstore, in search for new copies of the books he lost. Much to his horror and rage, he was unable to find his two favorite volumes of Make-Out Paradise and Icha-Icha Violence. Not one copy of his favorite volumes was to be found in all the stores that sold the series, not even the massive, multi-leveled bookstore downtown had one.<p>

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE SOLD OUT?!" shouted Kakashi Hatake, "HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!"

"Please, sir," the nervous clerk answered him, "B-But all those volumes of the Icha-Icha and Make-Out series were sold out last afternoon..."

"Each bookstore in town that I've been to has thrown me that same damn excuse," he ranted and than he asked, "Who the hell has been here? Who took them?!"

The freckle-faced teen said, "T-That information is restricted from other c-customers. I c-could get f-fired if I showed the transaction records, sir..."

"Ok," the shinobi said in a more controlled voice as he started to shake in frustration, "Then when's the next restock date? I can't leave Konoha and find them somewhere else. You don't know how difficult it's been around here. How long do I need to wait for?"

The clerk shook, scared out of his wits as he clicked the buttons on the store computer before he turned white and answered the furious shinobi, "We're not due for another restock for at least three months."

The shinobi started to shake as his face turned a brilliant shade of red, like a masked tomato. The freckle-faced teen tried to calm him down, but then he noticed a box hidden underneath the counter that was labeled with the mature audience sticker. Which was weird, since it wasn't there when he closed the store yesterday.

"Hold on a minute, sir! I think we have a few of them down here!"

"You do?!"

He lifted the box and Kakashi's face started to turn back to its normal color and he looked excited. The clerk checked the side of the box and it was, in fact, the last box full of the entire collection. There was another label attached to the box and he checked it before he threw it in the trash. It was a label with a cartoon bottlenose dolphin on the side that winked. But the clerk assumed it was a useless label and Kakashi never even noticed it. In his excitement, Kakashi removed the box from the hands of the clerk and tore off the restraints. He unleashed the box without hesitation or caution, but when he did, the inside exploded with a mixture of rainbow colors that blinded him. Kakashi blinked in irritation, he shook, furious as he cleaned the rainbow ink from his face. His silver hair was like a rainbow as the thick tuffs of hair stuck out for the whole store to see. The jounin looked down into the box and saw it was filled to the brim with the shredded remains of the books he had searched for. Kakashi held the shredded remains of his beloved series in his hands before he fell to his knees and roared to the heavens as he cried:

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

><p>Back at Iruka Umino's house, the tan chunin looked over his shoulder when he and the rest of his entourage heard the scream. Soon, the man smirked like a mad man and went back to read his boomerang magazine. Sat close to him in the other chair of his entertainment room was his beautiful girlfriend and his little brother. The two of them looked to each other and smirked before all of them broke out into laughter. Iruka dropped his magazine on the floor, while Anko and Naruto almost fell off of their seats and held their sides.<p>

"Hahahahahahaha!" the chunin chuckled out of his control, "This is what happens when Iruka Umino adds the finishing touch!"

Naruto soon sat back down on the footrest and went back to his book. Meanwhile, he let his surrogate older sister do what she came here to do and continued his haircut. Anko worked her own magic as she trimmed and styled his blonde hair, giving him the first trim he needed in months. Iruka collected his magazine from the floor and looked at his brother once in a while when he heard the sounds of wet hair being sliced. He smiled at his girlfriend while she used her angelic voice to hum a soothing tune to Naruto. The kunoichi hummed and revealed her more nurturing side, as she let more and more wet clumps of hair fall onto the towels laid on the floor. Anko's tune helped the preteen relax, since she wasn't using scissors. Instead of scissors, she used an extremely sharp kunai for the styling.

After a while, Anko had to take a break and look at the mass of hair she sliced and still had left to cut, "Look at all this hair! There is so much of it, Naruto! You didn't intend to leave it like this, right?!"

"Of course I did," he announced with enthusiasm, "I wanted to see what I looked like with a warrior's wolf tail or a braid!"

Anko failed to hold back a giggle, "Why the hell would you want one of those?"

Naruto didn't answer, but instead he looked back at the chunin on the couch. Iruka pretended to read his magazine while Anko looked between her boyfriend and Naruto. She then rolled her eyes and smacked the back of his head of his blonde-haired head. Iruka laughed, Naruto winced and snickered, and Anko went back to work to finish the trim.

"You are such a dork," she teased as she smiled.

Iruka looked over his magazine and said, "Oh, c'mon! He would look nice with a haircut like that!"

"I hate to bearer of bad news, Naruto," she started while she dowsed more water into his head, "But that wouldn't look nice or fashionable. Stick with a look that's more… You!"

(A/N: My friend from high school, Jake, and I talked about that once in the lunchroom a few years ago XD He said Naruto wouldn't look good with a ponytail)

Within the next ten minutes, Anko was finished and dried Naruto's hair with another towel. She removed the towel tucked around his neck and brushed off whatever hair she missed. The kunoichi offered him a mirror, satisfied with her masterpiece but awaited his opinion. Naruto stared at his reflection and was almost as impressed at how clean he looked. His hair was shorter, still a mess, but it was dressed in a fashion that made it look neater and brought out his face more. Harry studied his new look for a few minutes before he smiled and winked. The smaller wizard didn't have the braid he wanted, but he was fine with this new look. Something about how his hair brushed in one direction and covered his lightning bolt scar reminded him of his other brother. It made him look like he was a true relative of the Potters.

"I love it," he exclaimed, "At first I didn't want to do this, but now it's… fantastic!"

Anko smiled sat down beside the tan chunin, she leaned into him and the two of them watched Naruto, as if he were their child. As soon as Naruto was done with his self-admiration, he thanks Anko and returned to his little book, the coat of his tracksuit still wrapped around his waist while he basked in their warmth of Iruka's house, grateful he wasn't outside as he looked over his shoulder to the window and noticed the leafs on the trees were carried with the cold autumn wind.

* * *

><p>About a week later, Naruto was inside an old classroom on the third floor of the Ninja Academy, to work on the repairs instead of on a mission with his team. Naruto was alone in the classroom while the rest of the school was filled with the teachers and other shinobi who were there to fix the rest of the school. He closed and locked both of the doors before he moved towards the windows and saw all of the broken glass scattered across the floor. He then removed his wand from his trousers and aimed it at the windows.<p>

He then annunciated in a clear voice, "_Reparo!_"

The clear shards scattered across the entire room hovered in the air for a few seconds before shooting towards the sills and formed back into solid panes of clear glass.

When the charm was finished, Naruto decided to take a look around and recognized this classroom. This was the room he was assigned to with his first teacher. He looked towards the front desk and examined the chair before he recognized the dark stains on it and smiled when he remembered the morning where he smothered this chair with what he would put on a sandwich. He looked to where he used to sit and searched the desk to find that its contents were filled with another student's tools. He sighed before he turned to see the same stool he was forced to sit on when that cursed Funeno humiliated him on his first week. Naruto aimed his wand at the chair and incinerated it with one flick. The chair turned to ash and dust and then the remains disappeared with another wave of his wand.

With that done, Naruto heard his older brother's voice on the intercom, "_Attention staff and volunteers, attention! We will take a break for one hour for lunch. Be sure to be back here at the end of the hour to continue work._"

Naruto decided it would be best if he did some work on the roof while the other volunteers were out to lunch. Since he was here for magical maintenance, it would be wise to do it when no one could catch him. He scaled the old staircase and even walked into the corridor where the library was located; smiling in nostalgia when he saw the cameras he had once disabled to sneak inside. He repaired a few more desks and chairs during his walk to the roof before he arrived and fixed the pipes Iruka said needed to be fixed before someone could report the damage.

With a few waves of his wand and a few simple incantations, he was done and free to leave for lunch. But he still wanted to stop at Iruka's office and check to make sure if he wanted him to come with him. So Naruto ran downstairs to the main office and could have sworn he could hear more than one voice on the other side of the door; the sounds of chuckling, girlish giggling, and the shuffling of a wooden chair. He reached out and knocked the door four times hearing an immediate response.

"Just a second," he heard Iruka shout, a few fast shuffles were heard and then he said, "Come in!"

Naruto entered and looked surprised when several documents flew about in the air and Iruka looked a little bit flustered and nervous behind his new desk. The blonde rookie approached his older brother and noticed that he was blushing and some of his hair was a mess, thick brown strands hovered over his headband.

He asked the older shinobi, "I was about to head out to lunch. Wanna come with, aniki?"

Iruka shook his head at once.

"No thanks, I'm fine," he answered, "Besides, I have a lot of work to do here. You have fun without me."

Naruto would have left but then he identified a red smudge on Iruka's mouth. He walked closer to his older brother, believing it was blood for a moment before he realized what was.

The blonde rookie asked, "Iruka-aniki…. is that… is that lipstick?!"

"Uh," the chunin hesitated, "Yes it is."

The blonde shinobi twitched when he heard a shuffle under the desk and his face almost exploded with shock. Iruka sweat out bullets and his face turned a shade red that blended with the lipstick smeared on his face before he lowered his head until his headband touched the oaken desk.

"Go to lunch, Naruto," he ordered with an embarrassed voice.

The blonde wizard turned around and tried his best to forget what he saw while he heard the sound of Anko crawl out from under the desk, also embarrassed. Naruto closed the door behind him and thought about the bottom of a fire escape he remembered passing on the road over here before he turned on the spot and vanished out of thin air.

* * *

><p>When he twisted back into existence and reappeared, Naruto was located several blocks from Ichiraku Ramen in the restaurant district of town. He walked out from the darkness and blended into the crowd despite the colors he wore and the complete lack of bustling people. He walked down several streets and was a few blocks from Ichiraku until he heard the loud, masculine voice of a bearded man beckon to him.<p>

"Yo! Naruto Uzumaki," he turned to see Asuma Sarutobi with his students through the floor window of the Yakiniku Q restaurant, "Come in and join us for lunch! We have an extra seat!"

Naruto wasn't expecting this at all but entered the restaurant nonetheless, finding the table located next to the window where he saw the team. He found them at a booth with a menu plastered into the table, taken aback when he saw a charcoal brazier built in the center with miniature tongs lined around for the customers. Naruto blinked and smiled when he saw his old friends Shikamaru and Choji seated. The slothful rookie looked tired as ever but pleased to see Naruto while his much chubbier friend did the rest of the welcoming for him. When Naruto noticed Ino sit down next to Choji, he was a bit surprised to see her smile at him and then invite him to sit down. While he didn't like Ino that much, a blush still arose in Naruto's cheeks from the fact that an actual girl asked him to sit with her. Naruto sat down on the last available seat and looked to the other shinobi for an explanation for their unexpected invitation.

"Thanks for the luncheon," he then asked, "What's the occasion?"

Asuma smiled with his lit cigarette still in his mouth, "No occasion. We thought it would be nice to invite someone else for lunch. Also it's a little gesture to show how much I appreciate your going back to help Shikamaru during the invasion."

"Plus," added Ino, "We needed another seat to fill in the fifth slot for our discount coupon here."

The senior shinobi sweatdropped and scratched the back of his head before he frowned at his kunoichi student, "Yeah, but I wasn't going to tell him that, Ino."

"You told us to be more honest, sensei! Don't fume at me!" she smiled as she shrugged.

The older wizard hidden in the mindscape snickered while Naruto shook his head and waved his hands to reassure the entourage, "It's fine! It's fine! I'll consider it a birthday present to sit here and eat with a few friends."

"Wait a second," Shikamaru shook his head and leaned closer to Naruto in slothful manner, "Your birthday's today?!"

"No," he answered, "It's next week. I'll be thirteen years old on October tenth."

Choji took a second to stop tapping the table with his fingers in anticipation for lunch and smiled as he raised his water glass, "Happy Birthday, Naruto!"

Naruto smiled at the gesture, but was a little bit overwhelmed with the enthusiasm and uncommon attention.

"I have a question," asked the lazier rookie, all of a sudden, "Why didn't you ever tell us it was your birthday when we were in school? Choji and I would have done something for you to celebrate. Choji's mom would have baked an entire selection of cakes if she knew about it. Even my mom nagged me about when you celebrate it after she found out I was actually friends with you. She wanted to make a fruits basket or something."

Naruto didn't know how to answer Shikamaru's question. He didn't even know until now that he and his much chubbier friend even cared about him that much. Not to mention, this was the first time Shikamaru called Naruto one of his friends out loud. The blonde-haired rookie tried to hold back a blush as he shrugged his shoulders and smiled softly.

He then answered his friend, "I dunno… Guess it never occurred to me."

The bearded shinobi seated beside Shikamaru leaned in close to him and then muttered into his ear while he looked at the blonde wizard with a curious face, "You were right. He does have a weird accent."

"You know I'm sitting right here… right?" the blonde rookie reminded him.

* * *

><p>{{<em>Sister Rosetta (Capture the Spirit) by Noisettes<em>}}

After a few minutes, the waiter arrived and tossed an enormous amount of uncooked barbecue meat on the table and adjusted the flames beneath the table. Naruto and the others could feel the heat radiate and warm the area around the table as Choji sweat and drooled in anticipation. Each of the patrons on the table plopped the meat slices down on the grill and smiled when the irresistible smell of the cooking meat flooded their nostrils. Naruto could not recall when he ever ate barbequed meat before and was excited to have some. Once most of the meat was cooked well enough for eating, Choji had lost control of his appetite and stole most of meat stuffing it into his mouth.

Ino screamed at her teammate, "CHOJI!"

"That was for all of us," his slothful friend added, "Slow it down!"

Choji's full, rounded face formed a wide smile while Ino fumed, Shikamaru frowned, Naruto snorted in laughter, and Asuma sighed. Once some more meat was landed on the grill, the chaos settled and the team with their guest decided to kill time and talk for a bit. Shikamaru started first with a question he had been meaning to ask his old classmate for a while.

"Naruto," he started, "Where the hell is that coupon that you promised me back when we went after Uchiha?"

The blonde-haired rookie reached into a fold in his headband and withdrew a somewhat crumbled coupon, "The one for the new mattress? Here it is, mate."

"Excellent," he smiled back, "I've been looking forward to this."

But then a large, tan masculine hand reached out and snatched the discount out of his student's hand, "I'll take that!"

"HEY! THAT'S MINE!" Shikamaru shouted at his teacher, and tried to reach for it back while Asuma teased him and hovered the white slip above his head, out of his reach. Asuma chuckled while Shikamaru moved faster than he ever seemed to move, even in the middle of a battle. It was like taunting a cat with a flashlight.

Naruto snickered at his slothful friend before he looked back at his lunch. The meat was cooked and he stuffed a slab into his mouth. Naruto smiled as he savored the remarkable taste and his mouth filled with saliva. How he never came here to eat lunch before now was a total mystery to him. Naruto hadn't eaten such a delicious lunch since he tried his first bowl of ramen. Naruto then used the various spices and sauces that his chubbier teammate seemed to drown his share while he and the blonde kunoichi were amused at the expense of Shikamaru as he continued to reach for that discount ticket.

* * *

><p>After the first plate was finished, Shikamaru recovered his discount ticket and tucked it in his vest. Choji decided to take a break to breathe and Ino ordered a diet drink. Naruto asked for some more water while Asuma finished the last of his cigarette and shook the ashes into the charcoals of the fire.<p>

Asuma threw out his cigarette bud and observed Naruto with a curious look on his bearded face. He knew the child while he was raised in the Sarutobi estate, but Asuma never spoke to him, not even once. He maintained his distance from him because he used to hate children, and he was a little uncomfortable around him with the demon fox he knew was sealed inside of him. When the teams were chosen several months ago, he used to think that he was a complete wimp, too skinny, nothing special; no more than a comic book nerd wearing a headband. But then he ate his original opinion about him after the Chunin Exams and the invasion. Looking at him now, he almost wished that he had Naruto as one of his students instead of becoming Kakashi's student.

At the thought of Kakashi, the bearded shinobi remembered the chaotic episode he had with his missing Make-Out Paradise books. He didn't know who was behind the prank, but he had a feeling that he had just invited the culprit to lunch. If Naruto were behind it, he wanted to offer the rookie his compliments. Asuma was never a fan of Naruto's antics back then, but that particular prank was undoubtedly hilarious.

"Naruto, I have a question," he beckoned.

The blonde drank some water and answered, "Yes?"

"Your sensei, Kakashi," he started after a bite of delicious meat, "How has he held up without his precious Paradise novels?"

"I wouldn't know," the child frowned at the mention of his instructor and answered, "I haven't seen him in a while. But I'm sure he's fine. "

Asuma looked more curious, "You haven't seen him? Since when?"

"Last week," he said back, "Our team hasn't been on a mission ever since we visited the farms with the new water tower. It's weird that we took a break this long after one mission."

The bearded shinobi asked and then he said, "You haven't done more missions since then? One week is a long time for a break. Hell, that's a vacation after how much we suffered from that invasion!"

"Kakashi-sensei said that he had a lot of paperwork to finish," he said with a subtle hint of disdain and sarcasm in his voice, "He also said that he didn't have time to train me. He probably has mountains of paperwork to do."

Asuma almost laughed, "Paperwork?! Since when has he ever done that?!"

"Then he must have been out training the teme," he said with a flat, serious voice, "Kakashi-sensei seems to think that Sasuke is more important than the rest of the team."

The bearded shinobi looked back at him but failed to attract the attention of the others except for Shikamaru, as Ino and Choji bickered over the last piece of meat, "What?"

"Then that means he never told anyone else," he reminisced and then answered, curious to see the bearded shinobi's answer, "Kakashi-sensei likes to pick favorites now and he's shut Sakura-chan and me out in the dark with our training… and then he lied to me to blow me off to train Sasuke instead of all three of us."

Asuma looked a little bit serious now and said, "Your sensei shouldn't do that."

"It didn't stop him from doing it anyway," the blonde rookie said, unsure if Asuma could or would take action, but he secretly wished the bearded jounin to confront Kakashi and bash some sense into him, "I caught him when he lied to me and he weaseled out with the paperwork excuse. So I followed him and found him training with Sasuke. The two of them were about to work on their Chidori."

Shikamaru commented, "He should never do that… That Sasuke shouldn't have more special treatment and feel like he's more important than the rest of the team. That would unbalance the team even more than it was to begin with and destabilization would become inevitable. You should approach Kakashi and convince him to break this bad habit he has and force him to be fair. Since it's your birthday next week, you could use it as an excuse… It's troublesome but people usually get whatever they want on their birthday."

"Yeah, but I don't want to act like a spoiled brat and start making demands," said the blonde wizard, and then he smiled, "But thanks for the advice, Shika-chan!"

Shikamaru looked at Naruto with a flat look on his face and said, "Don't ever call me that."

* * *

><p>Almost a week later on October ninth, Naruto was at home, counting his mission money on his desk. Ever since he had started doing missions after graduation, he had saved whatever credits he earned to accumulate a small fortune of his own. He counted all of the credits he saved and smiled when he realized he would be set for at least a year. He would even be able to afford the limited editions of his favorite comic books if he wanted them. Naruto soon folded all of his credits and collected his coins, tucking them into a secret container in his beaded rucksack. He didn't have a wallet or a bank account, so he would have to hold onto the cash so it wouldn't be stolen. He soon hulled the rucksack over his shoulder and smiled while he contacted his older brother.<p>

'_Let's see,_' he pondered,'_How about we go shopping, Nii-san?!_'

'_**That could be fun. Where should we stop first?**_'

'_I think we should visit Tenten's store. I think she and her folks might have some good cloaks for our invisibility cloak experiment._'

'_**Excellent choice.**_'

* * *

><p>Naruto arrived at the weapons shop much later and searched the section filled with cloaks and coats in search for the perfect material he could use for his experiment. He checked the slides and hangers filled with traveling cloaks that high-level shinobi wore in harsh weather conditions, such as mountains, blizzards, and wetlands. The blonde shinobi figured he should get one of these but had to feel all the varieties of cloth to have his companion compare and choose which one was the most compatible. He rubbed his fingers into the separate cloaks and tried to focus some raw magic into them to observe the effects.<p>

While he concentrated, Naruto failed to notice that he was being watched from the upper levels. There was a shadowed kunoichi that used her chakra for stealth and appeared beside to Naruto without a sound. She then tapped his shoulder and smiled when his hair seemed to rise when he was surprised.

Tenten welcomed him, "Hi, Naruto!"

"CHRIST," he screamed, backed off and breathed, "Tenten-chan… Hi!"

She smiled and then said, "I noticed that we're not wearing the survival outfit from the exams, huh?"

"Yeah," he apologized, as he rubbed the back of his neck, "I lost it in the invasion. Do you have more of them in stock?"

Tenten then said, "I'm afraid we're out for a while. We won't be in stock for another few months."

"That's a shame," he answered, "It was a nice outfit while it lasted."

She then said as she tried to entice Naruto into another purchase, "I think that means it's about time for a new outfit?"

"Yeah, I think so," he answered and then winded, "I need a shinobi cloak for the winter. A cloak that can cover me and at least one or two more people, can absorb and be modified with chakra for blending into environments, and won't deteriorate under strenuous circumstances. Is that too much to ask?"

Tenten adopted an amused look and thought out loud, "Well, that's one tall order… let me think for a sec…"

Naruto smiled and waited while the kunoichi pondered over the request. Once she was finished brainstorming, she snapped her fingers and looked up to the next level of the store. There were a lot more clothes and cloaks on the upper level and there were one or two cloaks that she could remember that matched Naruto's requirements. Tenten then vanished out of sight with an excited expression on her face. When she returned a few seconds later, she was holding a large cloak like the others Naruto was browsing through, but this one was about the same size as the original cloak that his brother had described in his stories about Hogwarts.

She announced as she handed it over, "Here it is!"

"That was fast," he commented back, "And this looks nice!"

Naruto took the cloak to the closest mirror and pressed the fabric against his front. He then unbuttoned the front and wrapped the collar around his neck to test it. He checked how much the hems of the cloak would cover and was pleased to see his feet disappear beneath the cloth even while he walked around, but did not trip him as he strolled. There were no holes or sleeves for his arms, but that didn't matter seeing as Naruto was expecting to use this like a blanket once he had it enchanted. He walked around and even hopped up to the upper level to test the cloak's endurance. Naruto smiled once he returned to the floor and smiled at Tenten with one of his excited faces.

"How much is it?!" he asked eagerly.

Tenten answered him, "This one's on the house."

"What?!" he stammered, "How come?!"

The kunoichi told him with a proud smile, "It's compensation for the unintentional sponsorship. Ever since you wore the full survival outfit during the finals, over thirteen communities around the world have been calling us to send them similar clothes, all of them in various colors and textures! That's the reason mom and dad are not here now, the two of them still need to settle with the last customers that ordered them, all in advance. We are swimming in cash and it's all thanks to you, Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Um," he hesitated and then said in a somewhat awkward tone, "You're welcome, I guess!"

Tenten then removed the cloak from Naruto and stored inside a golden packaging box with vibrant paper to cushion the cloak and keep it preserved. She then taped the box shut with the help of a silver cloth used for wrapping gifts and presented the box to Naruto with a warm smile. He took the box without question and looked up at her with a subtle blush in his cheeks.

She then told him, "Take this cloak as a token of our gratitude!"

"Thanks, Tenten-chan," he said with wide smile of his own, "This is the kind of cloak I needed!"

Naruto then thanked her one last time and decided to leave. The two of them exchanged a few more words with each other and then soon departed once the sun started to set. The blonde shinobi looked back and waved at Tenten while she stood outside the store and waved back at him and smiled. When Naruto returned to Iruka's house later that afternoon, he removed the cloak from the box and smiled as he stretched the fabric. He raised the cloak with him as he stood and then noticed as a small card fall out between the folds of the hood in the back. He collected the small white card and saw a picture of two chibi anime characters designed after Tenten and her teammate Neji Hyuga. It showed the chibi-Tenten smile with a chibi-Neji that looked a lot more serious; the two of them held a colorful banner that made Naruto smile, blush, and wished he didn't leave the store so soon. He would have thanked Tenten in person had he noticed earlier or even hugged her.

* * *

><p><em>Happy Birthday, Naruto Uzumaki!<em>

* * *

><p>October tenth had arrived, but Naruto Uzumaki didn't feel all that excited when he awoke and sat down on his bed. He did smile as he looked outside and saw the weather looked fantastic. But then the remembrance hit him like it did ever since he learned about the truth about the demon fox sealed within him. This was the same day his father was killed, the same day Iruka lost his parents, and countless others died in the destruction of Konoha. It felt awkward for him as he listened to the sounds of the annual festival rumble outside, but to a much lesser extent. Due to the events of the invasion, the festival that celebrated the defeat of the fox demon was downsized. The citizens of Konoha would still wear their kimonos and set off fireworks, but there wouldn't be as much food or a lot of vendors or rides.<p>

But as awkward as it was for him, Naruto had every right in the world to be happy today; it was still his birthday. As he stretched out and folded the blankets back on his bed, the blonde teenager started to hear orchestral music echo from inside his mind as Harry did every year to make his little brother rise and shine. He smiled as he felt the sensation of his older brother's hand ruffling his blonde hair.

'_**Happy birthday, my old friend!**_'

Naruto laughed as he reached for his wand on the bedside table and flicked at the calendar on the wall. A red x-mark was scratched over the tenth before the blonde teen crawled out of bed. Naruto rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he walked down the hall for breakfast, but was surprised to see Iruka wasn't there. He turned around to check his bedroom, but the chunin wasn't there either. He went to the bathroom and he wasn't in there either. Naruto was certain he didn't have to be at the school today and doubled back to the kitchen. Once there, he noticed a note left behind on the dinner table.

He took the note and read it out loud, "_Naruto… Went out with Anko for a few errands and shinobi business. Meet me for dinner at Ichiraku tonight. Love, Iruka._"

{{_Till Kingdom Come by Coldplay_}}

The blonde teen didn't think much of it and decided it was about time for him to get dressed. Without Anko around to restrict his use of magic, Naruto took his wand and cleaned the apartment, prepared his breakfast, and washed his clothes. He headed off to take a shower while his clothes washed themselves, the kitchen switched itself on and cooked breakfast, while his clothes folded themselves. When Naruto was showered, dried, and dressed, he returned to see his breakfast; eggs, marmalade on buttered toast, ham, ketchup, and orange juice. Naruto felt like he was in heaven as he ate some of his favorites foods and listened to the old radio.

"Mmmm," he smiled and said out loud, "I love this one, Nii-san!"

The older wizard sorted some documents and designs in his office in the mindscape while he smiled back at his little brother and listened to the same tune on the radio. Naruto tapped his foot against the wooden floor as he ate and turned toward the window he left open and waited for someone to be perched on the sill, but no one arrived with a basket of vegetables. Naruto turned back to his breakfast and flicked his wand at the window to close it shut. Once he was done eating, he flicked his wand at the dishes and commanded the sink and dishes to take care of his chores for him while he retreated to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Once the blonde teen was finished, he collected his rucksack, flicked his wand at the radio and then the dishes as all his magic was cancelled over the apartment, so that no one could stumble upon it.

* * *

><p>While Naruto walked down the street to the reservoir to meet with his team, he shared a curious thought about shadow clones.<p>

'_Nii-san, do you think it's possible for you to posses one of my shadow clones?_'

'_**Huh?!**_'

'_I thought about it ever since I baked those Cauldron Cakes, back when I mentioned we'd find a vessel for you. Do you think it's possible for you to possess one of my shadow clones, like when you took control of me in the Forest of Death? If you could do that, not only could you get a chance to eat some real food in the real world, but you could actually help me out in the real world too._'

'_**It could be possible. I maintained contact with one of your individual shadow clones once before in the Forest of Death. It might be possible. If I could, I would be a lot more useful in the real world and we could actually fight side-by-side!**_'

'_We should test it out sometime!_'

'_**Yeah, but let's test it out after things have settled down a bit.**_'

'_Right._'

The blonde-haired teen smiled as he strolled down the street. When he arrived at the red arches, he waved to Sakura and she smiled back at him. Sasuke was there as well, still stoic as he leaned back on the rail with his arms crossed. Sakura swooned over him as usual and the Uchiha couldn't care less. But as soon as she turned around and said hello to their blonde teammate, Sasuke seemed to frown more and looked back at the kunoichi. Sakura didn't seem to care about him at all as all of her attention was on Naruto. The Uchiha's face twitched in irritation as he stared at the blonde-haired teen. He didn't process the conversation the two of them had, but instead thought back to the invasion when Naruto revealed his unbelievable strength and skill, the likes of which he had never seen before. That battle had been on his mind for months and each time he thought back to it, his insides felt so twisted. It made him wanted to bash his fist into a tree or run off into the woods, but he remained silent and stared at his blonde teammate.

After a half an hour, Kakashi arrived. But almost as soon as he descended from the arch, he stood before his students with an announcement.

"I hate to be the barer of bad news, but there's no mission for us this time," he said, "The Hokage's office is flooded with other teams and we'll be stuck in line waiting for a mission until sunset even if we leave right now. It looks like we're going to have to cancel on our mission this time, guys."

Sakura seemed surprised but not all that bothered. Sasuke looked disinterested and seemed to have other matters on his mind. Naruto, on the other hand, frowned at his sensei, as he was sure the masked man had lied through his teeth. But even so, Shikamaru's words of advice echoed in his mind and Naruto was tempted to take up on it. The blonde teen still didn't want to act like a spoiled kid on his own birthday and tried taking a different approach in getting what he wanted, hopefully breaking the bad habit his sensei had developed in the process. Sakura ran her mouth off at their teacher as she ranted about wasting her time while Kakashi laughed uncomfortably and tried to cool her temper. After Sakura crossed her arms and pouted as she turned her head in the other direction, Naruto made his move.

"Isn't there something else you want to say, Kakashi-sensei?" he asked.

Kakashi looked at his blonde student with a blank look and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Something you want to say about what day it is today?" the blonde teen egged him on, somewhat irritated that Kakashi didn't pick up on it, "A special day that only comes once a year..."

"Oh," the masked teacher blinked in surprise, Naruto started to feel better as a smile rose on his face, but then he frowned as Kakashi looked more somber and said, "Today is the day of the annual October festival. I almost completely forgot about it. Thank you for reminding me, Naruto, I have to go pick up something to put on a grave. This was the day my sensei lost his life. I really should pay him a visit."

Naruto couldn't feel worse right now. He wanted to shout at his sensei and tell him it was his birthday today. But he stopped himself immediately when he realized how selfish and bratty he would look and sound if Naruto made it sound like his birthday was more important than the death of someone that must have meant a lot to Kakashi. The blonde rookie remained silent now that he realized he lost his window of opportunity. He should have told his teacher and teammates that it was his birthday right from the start, he thought. But it was too late now as Kakashi bid his students farewell.

Sakura marched back home as she ranted about what a waste of time it was to come down to the reservoir. Sasuke walked off and Kakashi vanished while Naruto remained alone next to the arch.

The blonde teen frowned and felt miserable. But he decided to go to the woods and train to vent out his frustrations instead. Naruto trained vigorously that afternoon and viciously too, so much so that he was drenched in sweat, dirt, and a little blood at the end of the session. He took dozens of kunai and threw them all at faces of trees carved with the likeness of his masked teacher. It made him feel a little bit better when he slashed and stabbed the bark until the faces were unrecognizable or blasted them out with his spells.

But no matter how hard he trained or what spells he used with the trees as his cover, Naruto still felt rotten that no one he knew in the real world remembered his birthday. This wasn't something Naruto wasn't familiar with; few people ever remembered other than Sarutobi and he braved his recent birthdays well enough with no tears or crushed feelings when no one in the world cared. But this year was particularly painful for him to endure. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he actually had friends now, family even with Iruka adopting him unofficially. Naruto had gotten used to having a few friends and even received acknowledgement from a kunoichi he knew very little about. Those experiences had built up his expectations this year and he expected more from his closest friends and allies. Naruto felt now, he should have reminded Kakashi and his teammates that it was his birthday today. Then he started to think that maybe it was acceptable for him to be more selfish for at least one day of the year. But then the memories of watching other children screaming, crying, and loudly complaining on their own birthdays quickly stomped the thought out of Naruto's head.

Naruto slumped down at the base of the closest tree in the forest and slowly cleaned the sweat and grime off his body and clothes with his wand. He sulked, frustrated that he had to be born on such a disastrous night, that his closest friends couldn't remember the day he was born, that his mother wasn't alive to bake him a cake, that the Kyuubi had to attack Konoha thirteen years ago and ruin his childhood. Naruto knew his thoughts were selfish, but he couldn't help it. In a fit of frustration, he slammed his closed fist into the tree and slowly stood up. The tree cracked as a result of his strength combined with the influence of his magic.

Harry watched from the mindscape sadly, lamenting the past seven birthdays he was around to witness. Naruto didn't show it much, but he knew he was silently suffering and hoped his magical influence helped him forget. He focused the sensation of his hand on Naruto's shoulder and helped him calm down. It worked as Naruto decided to leave the forest, as the sun was setting now and his stomach growled loudly. Maybe having dinner at Ichiraku with Iruka would make him feel better.

* * *

><p>Naruto did start to feel a bit better as he approached his favorite place in the world to eat. Right on time too, as he arrived when Iruka asked him in the note that morning. Naruto cracked a smile when he saw the back of Ichiraku Ramen from around the corner, feeling his stomach growling once again at the thought of a fresh bowl of delicious noodles and broth. But then his spirits took a nosedive when he walked around the corner to discover that Ichiraku was closed.<p>

The steel shutters were down, sealed shut several hours earlier than usual. Ichiraku didn't close until midnight and it wasn't even eight o'clock. Naruto looked crestfallen and confused, before his face became twisted with rage and he kicked the shutters.

"I don't believe this! NOT EVEN ICHIRAKU?!" he shouted as a few civilians around he turned to look at him and soon walked off in a rush, "That does it! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS DAMN DAY! Screw this!"

The blonde teen stormed off in a huff, walked down the closest dark alleyway and Disapparated.

* * *

><p>Naruto approached the front door of Iruka's home and frowned sadly as he tapped the lock with his wand to unlock the door. He didn't turn the handle for a while as he felt this was indeed the worst birthday ever. He didn't even know what else was left to do to turn everything around other than go to bed and try and forget this day even happened.<p>

He sighed, "Some birthday, alright…"

He opened the door and discovered the apartment was pitch-black inside. None of the lamps were on and the entire living room was shrouded in darkness. Naruto sensed a presence in the darkness that alerted him at once. His scar didn't burn, but he didn't take a chance as he slowly walked inside and closed the door behind him.

"Aniki?" he asked out loud.

When no one answered, Naruto was about to draw his wand from his sleeve. He went on full alert when he sensed four people in the room with him. But before he had a chance to react, he was blinded with an intense flash. Naruto was almost scared to death when the people in the apartment roared, waved their arms in unison as an explosion of confetti filled the entire room.

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NARUTO!"

The blonde teen shouted, took one step back, and then he tripped. Naruto hit his head hard against the door behind him as Iruka, Anko, Teuchi, and Ayame all stopped dead in their frozen poses, their faces full of delight and enthusiasm slowly shifting to an awkward stare as the four of them realized Naruto was unconscious.

* * *

><p>When Naruto came to, he saw Iruka and Anko hover over him as the two of them checked the back of his head with an icepack in hand. It took Naruto a while to come around and see the relieved faces of his brother and surrogate older sister. He blinked a few times and was astounded to see he was surrounded with warm, familiar faces. There was Teuchi and his daughter Ayame, both of them dressed in normal civilian clothes for once. The two of them were almost unrecognizable without their signature chef outfits and hats. The two of them looked like normal, warmhearted Muggles, as Ayame no longer held her beautiful brown hair back with a bandana and let it flow with freedom. Without his chef outfit, Teuchi looked a lot more like the older, beloved uncle seen in most families with the khakis and the tucked-in collared shirt that failed to conceal the size of his large belly. The two Muggles seemed concerned about Naruto while Anko and Iruka tended to the teen to check if he had a concussion. Once the blonde rookie was fine, the couple stood up, as the master ramen chefs were quick to stand back with them and shouted with their arms in the air.<p>

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NARUTO!"

The teen focused his vision and took in the outstanding scene around him. There were auburn and scarlet-colored Japanese lanterns hanging up from the ceiling that radiated a warm and inviting light throughout the house. Standing on a majority of the tables and counters were white candles and dozens of crystal bowls filled to their capacity with white-pedaled flowers that matched the candles perfectly. Even the kitchen had been decorated with scattered light-colored flower petals. But one detail that took Naruto's breath away was a collection of various sized boxes, wrapped in silver paper and over half a dozen cards on the kitchen table.

"Oh…" was all he could utter, as the blonde teen was beyond speechless.

They were presents, actual birthday presents. Naruto didn't know what to say or how to react, as he never received such a gesture on his birthday of all days. He felt so grateful and so wonderfully embarrassed as tears began to well up before he wiped them clean before someone could see. But all the people in attendance saw the sheer happiness on his face from the moment his shoulders trembled and smiled at him sadly.

"Happy birthday, Naruto-kun!" cheered Ayame, "Iruka set up the whole thing in case you had a bad day on your mission!"

Teuchi explained their surprise appearance in a jovial voice, "Iruka told us he was going to throw you a surprise birthday, so we decided to help out and give you the best damn birthday a little hero like you deserves!"

Anko giggled and Iruka smiled before he nodded to the ramen chef in thanks for his assistance. The chunin then presented his little brother with a hot meal he had never seen before. Teuchi had cooked his best deluxe ramen, filled with all the most delicious meats, tender noodles, vegetables, fish cakes, and the richest of broths. Naruto walked over with a wide, genuine smile on his face as he blushed and drooled at the sight of the meal. He then embraced the warmth, kindness, and love that filled the room with his oldest and kindest friends in celebration of his birth.

The celebrations went off with a literal bang as Teuchi, Iruka, and Anko blasted crackers that filled the room with confetti and surprise gifts hidden inside them. Ayame cheered with delight, as did Naruto when he caught a red hat made of thin paper and slipped it on his head. The others found little tokens and gifts of their own and relished in the foolish festivities as Anko switched on the radio.

Iruka found a kazoo whistle and blasted it while Ayame collected a large bottle filled with sake and shared it with her father and the other adults. Naruto delighted himself with a simple cola and toasted with the adults. Iruka took a few pictures with a disposable camera before he organized the silver-wrapped boxes according to size and weight. Anko, Ayame, and Naruto chatted for a short while and teased Iruka that earned Naruto a balled fist to the head that only made the blonde teen laugh. Teuchi returned from the kitchen with the ramen and Naruto was the first to delight in what was some of the best ramen noodles he had ever eaten from Ichiraku. He blushed and cheered while Iruka followed suit and wished he could have ramen like that on his birthday. The snacks that followed their meal included countless dango as requested from Anko as well as macaroons served with apple juice. The kunoichi and the female ramen chef delighted with their sweets while the men took a break to chat.

After the main course digested in their slightly swollen bellies, the radio continued to blast with wondrous, festive music as Iruka turned toward the kitchen. The chunin left but soon returned to the main table and surprised Naruto with a cake. The delightful dessert was smothered with smooth vanilla and marshmallow icing, topped with fresh strawberries around the edges, drizzled with melted milk chocolate, and a solid, two-inch thick bar of milk chocolate and white chocolate. The cake was like a diabetic's most delicious nightmare as it was served with a side of ice cream, dango, and a choice between sweet English tea and hot chocolate. Naruto could have cried as Teuchi, Ayame, and Anko gathered around the table with more crackers in their hands. Iruka lit the candles before the tan-skinned chunin broke out in song, the others sang with him as the lights dimmed down and the candles illuminated the tearful smile on Naruto's face.

"_Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, dear Naruto! Happy Birthday to you!_"

The blonde-haired teen couldn't believe his ears as his heart overflowed with emotion. He couldn't contain it as his face turned red and fresh tears flowed down his face. The others were shocked to see the tears, but soon understood that he wasn't upset at all and let him take his time as he smiled. It was time for him to make his wish and blow out the candles, but he couldn't think of what in the world he could ever want. He didn't feel the need to make a wish at all, not with all these wonderful people around him.

Naruto cleaned the tears from his face and blew out the thirteen candles with no wish in mind. Iruka and the others cheered and tossed Naruto a cracker. The guests gathered while Iruka set a timed camera to capture the moment. When the camera flashed, all of the guests and Naruto had blasted their crackers, their faces filled with elation, no tears, as their moment was captured and frozen in an instant of time.

Back in the mindscape, Harry smiled while he watched his little brother immersed in the merriment. It meant the world to the older wizard to see Naruto so delighted and blissful after all this time. The wizard tossed a blue hat on his head and drank some tea as he sat back and watched his little brother stuff an entire slice of cake in his mouth. He laughed when Iruka told him to slow down and show some manners. The blonde rookie blushed and rubbed the back of his head as he apologized with his mouth still full of cake.

{{_No Way Out by The Shins_}}

Teuchi and Ayame switched the station on the radio as Naruto was given his presents. In Konoha, gift exchanges for birthdays were unusual and fluctuated with no clear tradition. Some people in stricter, wealthier families or clans exchanged presents but didn't open them in the presence of the person that gifted to them. In those families, or the wealthier clans, people often thanked their loved ones for their kindness and opened their gifts when alone later. But common families and middle-class citizens took on more Western traditions and opened their presents while surrounded with their friends and families.

On Naruto's thirteen birthday, he received a multitude of gifts from his loved ones, but also received presents from people he didn't expect would ever give him gifts. Most of them were from Anko's friends, the proctors of the recent Chunin Exams, and the friends and relatives of the late Hayate Gekko: Naruto received a blank journal from Genma, a green frog-shaped wallet from another Tokubetsu named Aoba Yamashiro. The blonde rookie was surprised to receive dozens of fresh, new kunai and shuriken from Ibiki Morino, the scarred proctor of the written examination of the Chunin Exams. Naruto also received storage scrolls, new clothes, fresh new equipment that he needed replaced. Teuchi showed Naruto his present from him and Ayame, which was one of the main highlights of the evening, without a doubt. The ramen chef gave his best customer a miniature stew-crafting kit complete with a portable stewpot. Teuchi mentioned it was powered with batteries and could use it to heat fresh meals while on a mission without the need of a fire. This was invaluable for Naruto, as a shinobi, because a fire could alert dangerous foes of his location if his rations required to be cooked.

"You never know when you're on a mission and you need a good meal once in a while. It's a multi-purpose portable stew-maker," the ramen chef boasted, "It should fit inside that beaded backpack of yours. At least I hope it can fit..."

Naruto smirked when he thought about his enchanted beaded rucksack and said, "I have a good feeling that it will, Teuchi."

Ayame had a special custom-made ramen bowl for her favorite customer with his name engraved around the outside rim. Naruto loved it and Ayame kissed his cheek to make him blush. Iruka captured the innocent kiss on camera and laughed while Anko howled with laughter as Naruto's face turned as red as a tomato from embarrassment. Later on, Iruka surprised his little brother with the first of his set of gifts to one of his most precious students. He handed Naruto a tall silver box as the blonde rookie stared at it with interest.

"This is from Anko and me. Happy birthday, otōto," the chunin smiled.

Iruka's smile stretched as Anko stuffed cotton balls into her ears. Teuchi and Ayame stared at the couple in confusion until Naruto opened the box to discover a collection of brand new comic books. Harry moaned with misery as Naruto stared at the fresh issues and then his voice broke out across three blocks from the apartment.

"OH MY GOD," he screamed, "THIS IS THE ULTIMATE PLATINUM COLLECTION! THE BEST OF THE BEST COLLECTIONS! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!"

All of Naruto's favorite comics were collected in a series of thick comics that featured Naruto's favorite fictional heroes and their best stories to date. Teuchi had to cover his ears while Ayame was certain she went deaf for a little while. Iruka laughed at his little brother's reaction to his gift and nodded as he crossed his arms, as if he had won the contest for best gift and boasted. Anko shook her head at Naruto's dorky behavior but still smiled, as she was happy to see him look so delightful. Naruto ran over to Iruka and tackled him into a hug while the chunin laughed, smiled down at him, and ruffled his blonde hair.

"YOU'RE THE BEST BIG BROTHER EVER!"

The last present Naruto received from his adoptive older brother would be a framed picture of the moment after Naruto blew out the candles on his birthday cake. It was arguably the best present he received. The blonde wizard was surrounded with his friends, family, and confetti with warm smiles on their faces and a delicious cake about to be eaten. Naruto would later make another copy of the picture and had it inserted in his leather photo album.

At the end of the night, Teuchi and Ayame decided to call it a night and walked home after Teuchi had a little too much sake and his cheeks were pink from the alcohol. Naruto had fallen asleep on the couch reading his new comic books and surrounded with his presents. Iruka bid the ramen chef and his daughter farewell and thanked them to no end for their assistance and company. Teuchi and Ayame were more than happy to be there and looked forward to next year's party already. After their departure, the chunin cleaned up the kitchen and tables while his girlfriend snuck up behind him as he washed a few dishes. Anko rested her chin on his shoulder, pressing up against Iruka's back to make him blush as a small dribble of blood ran from his nose.

The two of them flirted a little bit and looked back at the slumbering blonde teenager on the couch. Naruto still had chocolate crumbs on his cheeks and it made the chunin and kunoichi take a breather and decided to tuck him into bed. Anko snorted when she saw Naruto had drawn a colorful unicorn on the front cover of his new journal. Iruka then lifted and carried the blonde rookie over his shoulder as he remembered how his dad carried him to bed when he was little.

"Let's move, little soldier," the chunin said to quote his father, "C'mon, it's bedtime!"

Naruto moaned but continued to smile as he leaned into the chunin's neck, "Aniki… that shoulder's too stiff… use the other one…"

The tan-skinned chunin chuckled as he took Naruto to bed and Anko smiled warmly as she watched her boyfriend. A little part of the kunoichi wished she could have tucked him in with Iruka but remained where she stood as she cleaned the tables and collected Naruto's presents.

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><p>Around this time, the festival of Konoha released fireworks that earned the attention of the Sandaime. The old man was still in his office, alone as he sorted through endless documents. He looked as sick as ever and didn't look like he had much strength left in him. Sarutobi missed out on the festival and even missed his chance to visit Naruto. The old man had waited for his team to come and take on a mission; he would have had his assistant deliver him the treacle tart he had saved for him.<p>

But the old man was certain he wouldn't be alone. Naruto didn't live in that old miserable apartment anymore. He lived with his former teacher and Sarutobi knew Iruka would celebrate with him. Despite his failure to see his surrogate grandchild, the old man stood from his seat to take a break and walked over to the window behind him.

Sarutobi looked out and smiled as the fireworks went off and ignored the pain that erupted in his chest when he forced himself to stand tall.

"Happy birthday, Naruto-kun," he muttered as he heard the subtle sounds of celebration outside.

{{_Apparition on the Train by John Williams_}}

But as the old man stood there at his wide window, Sarutobi felt that pain within strike. It felt like he had been stabbed with a cold blade as he looked down and clenched at his chest. His breath was cut short and his vision blurred. His muscles constricted and almost seemed to shrink as he stumbled in his step. He knocked over a large tower of paperwork, causing a domino effect that knocked down almost all of the papers stacked in the office. The old man started clutching at his robes and tore through the cloth, as the flesh on his fingers almost seemed to blacken in the darkness. The Hokage tore through his robes with his immensely strong hold and exposed his wrinkled chest. He turned bloodless as the bite marks of Orochimaru's snack turned darker. The veins around the wound darkened beneath his skin and spread out across his chest. It was like black ink spread through his veins like poison as the Sandaime doubled over with unbelievable pain.

"ERK! AHH!" he mumbled and shouted as he fell on several sheets scattered across the floor, "ARGH!"

The Hokage tried to reach towards his desk and cried out the name of his assistant. His fall to the floor was heard as the female assistant burst into the office. The woman arrived in time to see the old man squirm on the floor and scream, sweat drenching his face and robes with his chest exposed. The old man let out one loud moan before he collapsed and lost consciousness.

She tried to revive him after she screamed for the medical team. The people outside the office scrambled about and called for the medical team.

The woman felt the old man's pulse but tried to wake him as she screamed, "Hokage-sama! Hokage-sama! HOKAGE-SAMA!"

Sarutobi remained unresponsive, the only sign that he was still alive being his harsh, uneven breaths.

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><p>To Be Continued…<p>

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><p><strong>CLIFFHANGER! I know, I'm a cruel, sadistic bastard for doing that :P but I'll work hard on the next chapter as soon as I can, I promise. But I hope you guys enjoyed Naruto's surprise birthday party. As I mentioned above, the Tokubetsu, Yugao, Izumo, and Kotetsu were supposed to have a greater involvement in this chapter, but as guests at the party, which was originally supposed to be hosted at Ichiraku Ramen with Izumo and Kotetsu already being drunk and setting off crackers as if it were Christmas, getting a little beatdown from Ibiki and Anko. <strong>

**But I decided to change it at the last minute and did re-write. I thought Ichiraku was too small a location to host a big party with so many people. And I really wanted to downsize the guest list and have Naruto's first real birthday celebration feel more like a family experience with people he has known for years. After watching Road to Ninja in English dub, I realized you don't really need a lot of people to make a birthday celebration special. Naruto and Menma only had their parents around to celebrate and they both had a blast. In fact, Road to Ninja was the primary inspiration for most of the birthday party when I really think about it. But I figured a handful of people you've known well for years are a better amount of people to work with to make this event special for poor Naruto. It feels more comfortable than celebrating with a whole bunch of adults you've met fairly recently.**

**I also really liked including Teuchi and Ayame in this chapter more than I have before in the previous installments. I'm glad I gave them a more active family role in Naruto's life, at least for this chapter. And it was kinda funny having Teuchi dress in normal clothes XD I don't know why, but Teuchi does remind me of every kindhearted uncle I've ever seen or known.**

**You know what? I really actually enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you guys enjoyed it much as I did writing it.**

**Next time, we'll look into the fate of the Sandaime, have a visit from the Tokubetsu and the other characters I excluded from this chapter making an appearance, and the next chapter will include the very first active appearance of Danzo Shimura.**

**I'll work hard on the next chapter and I look forward to the reviews!**


	4. The Will of Hayate Gekko

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

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><p><strong>Hello friends, writers, and fellow readers and reviewers! I'm so sorry that this chapter took so long to get out, but school and work has been pretty demanding lately. Some moron quit on short notice and I was forced to take on an extra shift each week. Well, at least I get more money until we hire someone new, hopefully soon. But I was able to write a little bit each day if I wasn't exhausted at the end of my shifts. I'm back now and we have an interesting chapter with the introduction of Danzo Shimura: I also had a bit of writer's block when I wrote this chapter, especially when it came to Danzo. You'll understand what I mean when you read it. It took me FOREVER to write what I posted here and I hope it's good.<strong>

**I also wanted to ask you guys something and I would really appreciate it if you gave me your opinion in your reviews:**

**This book in the series is going to introduce more familiar creatures from Harry's world into the Naruto world, but I'm going to put my own spin on them in order for their existence to work in this universe. In about 3 more chapters after this one I'm thinking about either introducing thestrals or hippogriffs and Naruto might befriend one of them or a whole herd of them. I think I want to stick with thestrals but I would like to hear your opinions as it might influence my final decision.**

**I'm going to leave it open until after I post Chapter 6 so let me know in the reviews and I will take them into consideration. For now, please enjoy this little chapter and let me know what you guys think about it… in addition to letting me know if you guys prefer thestrals or hippogriffs.**

**Anyway, please enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling**

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><p>Chapter 4: The Will of Hayate Gekko<p>

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><p>The Sandaime was still alive, but his condition had worsened since the night of October 10th.<p>

He was rushed to the hospital soon after he had collapsed, but almost as soon as he arrived, the old man slipped into a coma. News of the Sandaime's condition spread like wildfire the following morning as the villagers and shinobi didn't react well to the news of the incident. With no further details on his condition, the people of the village were worried about the old man as whispers and rumors began to spread. Some citizens said the old man had suffered from a heart attack while others feared the Hokage was too old to continue his duties and it was time for a new leader to take command, a Fifth Hokage.

The idea that Hiruzen Sarutobi was too old and too ill to lead the village frightened the shinobi and loyal civilians. The Sandaime was the man that led them through two of the worst wars in shinobi history and restored the village after the demon fox attack within a few short years. No shinobi or kunoichi that were dedicated to him wanted the old man out of commission and felt apprehensive at the idea of a new leader.

Naruto was one of numerous citizens that feared for the old man's health and wished he would recover soon. He hadn't heard much about the Sandaime but tried to remain distracted. The blonde teen was locked up in his old apartment a lot more often to finish his experiments and potions. Later in the week, since the news of Sarutobi's collapse, he was in his kitchen with one of his cauldrons in the sink. Naruto was wearing a white mask over his face while he took a stainless steel ladle and swirled the contents of the blue potion until the mixture trembled. He stopped at once and moved to prepare a line of several small and round bottles that could hold no more than two walnuts. Naruto used his wand to levitate the ladle to scoop up a small amount of potion without spilling a drop back into the unstable mixture. He poured the blue liquid into all of the bottles in his lineup over the next thirty minutes and then corked them.

He then vanished the remaining contents of the Exploding Potion in the cauldron and placed his magical grenades into a special compartment located on the side of his beaded rucksack. With one last charm to prevent the grenades from going off accidentally, he relaxed and stuffed the empty cauldron somewhere safe.

Naruto cleaned the sweat from his brow and said, "Whew! What's next?"

'_**Garroting Gas. Ready for this?**_'

'_Yeah. As ready as I'll ever be._'

He moved to the next cauldron and started extracting the green liquid of the Garroting Gas mixture. He had to make sure that the white mask over his face was secure and slipped on an old pair of goggles to make sure the potion didn't release excess gas after being tipped into the small and thin bottles. It took over an hour but it was worth it once the cauldron was clean. He waved his wand over the used cauldrons and cleaned them with a single incantation.

Meanwhile, in his old, abandoned bedroom, the real Naruto studied the cloak from Tenten's store and ran his wand over it several times. The end of his wand tickled the surface of the smooth silk-like fabric and caused it to change with each stroke. The fabric seemed to slither, scrunch, and smooth out as it became translucent and switched back to subtle silver. He smiled each time he ran his wand down the hems of the cloak as he concentrated on the charms and followed his brother's detailed directions. Harry had studied more advanced charms after his death and directed Naruto on how to use them as the shinobi cloak transformed into a true cloak of invisibility. But he had been at these charms ever since the Sandaime fell into his coma. Naruto had been at work on the cloak for hours now ever since his previous shadow clone took over and still had his work cut out for him.

At the same time, the shadow clone in the kitchen finished the last of the potions that needed to be bottled and cleaned out the cauldrons. His shadow clone then removed his mask and checked on the Polyjuice Potion next. He took the bottle of lacewings and added them to the cauldron, then he took the ladle and swirled the contents counterclockwise three times. After that, Naruto took his wand and waved over the contents as the potion reverted to a thick mud-like substance. The shadow clone smiled as he had completed the latest potion and began to store the contents at once. He labeled the bottles and didn't waste time as he filled at least seven bottles full of the potion and had them stored into a kit of his own design that he stored with the stew kit Teuchi gifted him.

"It's done," the shadow clone exclaimed, "That's the last of it!"

The real Naruto shouted, "Keep it down back there! I'm trying to concentrate!"

As delighted as he was to hear the last of his potions were done, Naruto still had a lot of work to do. He continued to enchant the cloak, careful not to lose focus and have the charm rebound on him. The blonde teen couldn't help but fear his skin might become translucent if that ever happened. He would never know how to explain that to his teammates.

The shadow clone looked back at the book on the kitchen table and ran through a list of other brews he could work on.

"Let's see," he pondered, "Blood-Replenishing Potion could be useful, Befuddlement Draught too… there's also… Anti-Paralysis, the Antidote to Common and Uncommon Poisons, Bruise removal paste, but that ointment from Hinata-chan works like a charm, so I don't need-"

The Naruto shadow clone soon started to think about Hinata when he ran through the list out loud, as did the real Naruto. He hadn't seen the kunoichi since the funeral but never had the chance to talk to her. Now that the Chunin Exams were over, he thought about seeing her again soon. But in the wake of the invasion, her team was probably very busy with missions, unlike his team. The real Naruto sighed as he wished he could have hung out with her or talked like they used to back in the hospital. Ever since the two of them became friends, the separation made him miss her, not terribly, but enough to distract him from his current activities. Naruto blinked as he lost focus and almost panicked when his wand almost ran over the cloak. He snapped back to work while the shadow clone read more possible potions to brew out loud.

"Uhh… there's also Burn-healing, Cough Potion, more Developing Solution to make more of those photographs, I should brew some Essence of Dittany, Pepperup Potion, more Wiggenweld Potion…" he listed as he wondered when he could see the kunoichi again.

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><p>Later on in the week, Naruto was back at home with Iruka. Anko was out on a mission for a little while as her two boys were alone and bored out of their minds. Naruto had a shadow clone in his bedroom with the cloak while Iruka remained oblivious to its construction. The blonde teen wanted to surprise the chunin when it was finished and couldn't wait to see his reaction. Naruto had wondered if he should wait to show him on Christmas, but had second thoughts about that as Anko might spend the winter holidays with them.<p>

At the moment, Naruto was seated in one of the chairs while he read his new comic books. He was lost in one of his favorite stories while his older brother finished his breakfast of waffles. The blonde rookie shook his head at Iruka's delight in the western food his little brother introduced him to and worried about Iruka's diet a little bit. Iruka ate while he signed a few documents he brought from his new office. And at the thought about his new office, the chunin shivered with happiness at the fact that he was the head instructor.

All was well for a while until the brothers heard a knock on the door. Iruka stood and answered the door, one of his waffles still in his mouth when he answered the door and chewed it down when he saw whom it was. The chunin stood straight like the soldier he was when two ANBU stood at the foot of his door. But these ANBU looked somewhat different from the others Iruka had seen countless times before. He didn't seem to notice at first, but the soldiers wore red straps over their shoulders while the rest of their uniforms seemed more or less the same, only darker shades of gray.

"Iruka Umino?" the ANBU asked in an unusual tone of voice and had an uncommon accent.

The tan-skinned chunin nodded after he swallowed his mouthful, "Yeah."

"Who is it, aniki?" asked Naruto as he approached the door to see who it was.

And then the ANBU said in a rather blunt, emotionless manner, "You and the Kyuubi jinchuuriki have been summoned to the Administration Building."

Naruto's face twitched into an instant frown as he stared at the ANBU but Iruka's reaction was more upfront. The chunin dropped the rest of his breakfast on the floor and almost reached out to grab the ANBU by the collar of his uniform. Even though his little brother knew the truth about the demon, the chunin took serious offense to the mistreatment of former student especially after his previous confrontation with the ANBU.

"DON'T YOU EVER REFER TO NARUTO LIKE THAT IN FRONT OF ME AGAIN," he thundered.

But the ANBU didn't seem to care or feel offended as the other soldier ordered in that same unusual tone of voice, "You have both been summoned. I would advise that you dress appropriately and come to the Administration Building in the main office on the seventh floor at once."

Iruka looked down at his apparel and realized he was still in his pajamas in a somewhat comical manner, the same held true for Naruto. He looked back up and shot a mean look at the ANBU before he slammed the door in their faces. With the door close shut, Naruto and Iruka retreated to their bedrooms and got dressed. But the blonde rookie continued to think about the ANBU at their door. He was offended to have been called a jinchuuriki rather than his actual name, but his hatred of the ANBU's ignorance subsided as he realized the man had no malice in his voice when he said it. The ANBU that attacked him after he found Dosu's corpse showed a clear disdain for him in their voice, but the ANBU he met at the door was different, strange even. The ANBU at the door didn't seem to have any emotion whatsoever. And then he remembered the uniform and the red straps on his shoulders.

When Iruka and Naruto were dressed and about to leave, the blonde rookie shared his interest in the ANBU with his adoptive sibling.

"There was something unusual about those two," he said.

The chunin blinked and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Those ANBU," he answered, "Their voices were totally devoid of emotion, but I mean, more than the usual ANBU. And their outfits… it seemed a bit different from the usual uniform those soldiers wear, right? Since when do they wear red straps on their shoulders? Is it a new fashion accessory or something?"

Iruka thought back and went, "Huh… I didn't seem to notice at all."

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><p>About an hour later in an alley close to the Administration Building, there was a loud crack in the air as Iruka and Naruto slammed their feet into the concrete. Iruka's skin turned a shade of green as he tried to find his balance and swayed back and forth for a while. Naruto didn't seem to mind it at all as he looked more concerned for his older brother. But then the chunin rushed to the nearest trash bin and wasted his delicious breakfast.<p>

"I hate doing that…" the chunin mumbled.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck and apologized, "Gomenasai, aniki. Just wanted to save us some time."

"Wait a minute," the tan-skinned chunin looked back down into the bin and moaned, "Ohhh… My waffles…"

"Ugh," shivered the blonde rookie, "Gross.."

As soon as the chunin cleaned his face free of sick, the two of them walked out of the darkness and headed towards the Administration Building. When the two arrived in the courtyard, both of them noticed the sheer number of ANBU in the area stationed at all the entrances. Some of them seemed like the normal units Naruto wasn't particularly fond of, but then he noticed a lot more of them wore the red straps on their shoulders that made him feel uneasy. The blonde rookie tried to ignore them and walked on with his older brother.

On the seventh floor, there was another ANBU stationed outside the door to the main office. But this one was much, much shorter than the others. He seemed about the same age as Naruto and all of his former classmates. But then Naruto noticed his skin was an unnatural shade of white, almost the same shade as Orochimaru or Lord Voldemort. The ANBU turned to look at the two brothers and acknowledged them.

"You have arrived," he said as he opened the doors to them.

Naruto mumbled, "Thanks, Alucard."

But the ANBU didn't seem to hear him or understand the reversed reference as the doors closed behind them.

Inside the main office were various people, assembled around the room in the middle of conversation. Some of them had water in their hands and drank, but all eyes in the room turned toward Naruto and Iruka as soon as the doors shut behind them. Naruto recognized almost all those in attendance; Anko was there, back from her recent mission. Ibiki Morino was there, Izumo, Kotetsu, Genma, Raido, and two others that Naruto had never seen before, but the two of them seemed to know him as both of them smiled at him. One of them was a beautiful woman with purple hair that ran down her back. And the other was a man with red-framed sunglasses and tall dark hair.

Ibiki was the first to speak as he called out to the chunin, "Iruka Umino! Good to see you again!"

"Oh, hi there," the tan-skinned chunin called back as he approached the other Tokubetsu in a somewhat awkward manner.

Iruka was introduced to Ibiki while he was on a date with Anko, as he was one of her more colorful friends. The chunin knew about Ibiki's profession and couldn't help but feel intimidated and awkward around him. The tall, scarred man towered over the chunin when he noticed the thin blonde teenager beside him. Ibiki turned his attention to the more familiar face and smirked.

"Well, if it isn't Naruto Uzumaki," he said, "It's good to finally get to meet you outside the classroom! I have to admit that I'm still impressed at your spectacle during the first examination. After the invasion, Anko told us all about you and I'm sure you received our gifts on your birthday as well?"

"Yeah, I did," the teen nodded and offered Ibiki a small bow of his head when he remembered the numerous presents he received, "Thanks so much for the kunai! I can't wait to use them!"

Ibiki smiled and almost blushed when Kotetsu shouted out from across the room, "Don't steal all the credit from us, Ibiki!"

"Yeah! We contributed too!" his friend Izumo backed him up as the two chunin acted more like frustrated teenagers than adults.

Genma shoved Izumo aside as he walked over to the blonde rookie and made him crash into Kotetsu.

He chewed on the same senbon needle as he stood before the blonde teen and nodded to him as he smiled, "We never had the chance to meet until now. It's an honor, Naruto."

The man offered his hand to Naruto and the rookie shook it with slight hesitation and confusion. He wasn't sure what made him so honorable and the look in Genma's eyes was puzzling. It was like Genma had known him for a while but Naruto was certain he never met the man until the Chunin Exam finals. But even so, he nodded to the man and smiled a bit.

"Uh, thanks," he said, "You're Genma-sensei, right?"

Genma nodded and leaned back into a relaxed stance, "Yes, but there's no need to call me sensei. The Chunin Exams are over, kid."

"Right," the blonde rookie said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

The older shinobi then said, "With that said, I have to admit that first match at the finals was one of the best I've ever seen. I can only hope we can expect greater from you the next time you decide to take the challenge."

"Heh! I'm not so sure about that. But we'll see…" answered the blonde rookie as he wondered if the Chunin Exams would ever be hosted again after the previous fiasco.

Naruto met the other man in the room, a friend of Genma's named Raido. He saw him once at the arena when he delivered the Sandaime's messages to Genma while Sasuke's match was postponed. The blonde rookie noticed the burnt skin on his face and wondered if it was the result of a fire or some kind of acid burn. He never asked as the older shinobi offered his opinion of the match against Neji Hyuga. The blonde rookie blushed as he was praised for his skills with a sword.

He then met the man with the sunglasses that almost reminded him of Ebisu, but the man before him was a lot more laidback and seemed kind as he shook his hand and introduced himself.

"Hi," he nodded and then said, "I'm Aoba Yamashiro."

But then the shinobi held on to Naruto's hand and studied his face. The blonde rookie felt uncomfortable for about ten seconds until the man relinquished and smiled once more.

"You're no open book, Naruto Uzumaki!" he said with a smile.

The rookie looked from side-to-side at the others as he noticed them snort and hold back laughter at his reaction.

Naruto asked him, "What was that about?"

"I can read the minds of other people upon contact. It's similar to what the Yamanaka clan can do, but I'm not related to the Yamanaka. It's the reason I was promoted to Tokubetsu," the shinobi answered, as Naruto almost lost his mind at what he could have revealed to him if he were never trained in Occlumency and didn't have a constant low-level shield to protect his mind, "You must have a very strong will to be able to resist my power like that, Naruto. Were you ever trained to resist mental intrusion if you were forced to fight Ino Yamanaka in the preliminaries? I couldn't look inside that head of yours for too long at all. All I saw were a few surface memories from a few seconds ago. What does Alucard mean?"

Naruto shrugged and cracked an awkward smile, hoping he and the others would forget it quick, and said, "Beats me!"

"After seeing you able to control that crazy chakra in the arena with such ease I shouldn't be surprised at your resistance, I suppose," he commented in an enthusiastic manner.

Izumo and Kotetsu soon came around and took seats close to where most of the other shinobi were gathered around Naruto. The blonde rookie was happy to receive so much attention and thanked everyone for the birthday presents they sent him. Iruka smiled at the praise his little brother received but soon frowned and cracked a forced, awkward smile when Ibiki rolled him into a conversation about his latest assignments. Kotetsu snickered at Iruka's misfortune while Izumo commended Naruto success in the Chunin Exam finals.

"It wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for Hayate-sensei," said a more modest Naruto, as the sudden attention he received caused him to feel a lot more humble, "He trained me for the finals."

"He told me all about it," said another female voice.

Naruto turned around and saw the woman with the purple hair from earlier.

The woman smiled at the blonde teen as she said, "You meant a great deal to him. He told me he couldn't be happier getting to help you out after missing out on so much of your life, Naruto."

"Hello," replied the blonde-haired teen, "I don't think we ever met before."

The woman nodded to him and said, "That's right. I'm Yugao Uzuki. I'm… I was Hayate's girlfriend before he…"

Yugao stammered somewhat as it was clear her lover's demise was still a fragile subject. Naruto frowned as he too had a moment to reflect on his swordmaster's death.

"Gomenasai," he said in a more somber tone, "He was a wonderful man and an amazing swordsman. He taught me a lot in the one month we trained together. If it weren't for him and aniki, I wouldn't have been able to beat Neji or survived the invasion."

The woman smiled a little bit more and mentioned, "He told me you weren't particularly enthusiastic about the dodgeball aspect of your training."

Naruto almost let out a chuckle as he remembered the details of his intense training. He had a thought about his swordsmaster and how, even in death, he was still able to embarrass him. The blonde rookie told Yugao more about what Hayate taught him and she seemed a little bit happier with each tale. Naruto seemed to enjoy himself as well as Iruka joined in their conversation in an effort to avoid another awkward conversation with Ibiki. The people gathered in the office were soon too lost in conversation to stop and wonder why they were even summoned in the first place. But it didn't seem to matter as everyone was having a good time, laughing and retelling stories.

The blonde wizard would have relaxed more and talk to Yugao more about Hayate when someone else arrived. Everyone in the room was silenced as the doors opened and revealed the familiar face of an old man that no one in the room seemed enthusiastic to see.

It was Danzo Shimura, the third elder on the Konoha Council, escorted with the same two ANBU that summoned Naruto and Iruka from their home. And almost as soon as he saw the old man, Naruto felt his forehead burn for a fraction of a second. He felt unsafe and wanted to leave the room as he heard the man's cane click with each step as the echoes of his mother's voice rang in his ears. The memories of the dream and what his mother warned him about flooded back to him in an instant as he tried to remain calm and remember where he saw this man before the funeral and what seemed to make him so dangerous.

"Why have we been summoned here, Danzo-sama?" asked Ibiki.

The old man walked into the room and cleared his throat and assumed, "I believe we all know the answer to that, Ibiki Morino."

Danzo's voice was about as wretched as his appearance. He had no warmth in his voice, unlike the Sandaime, who was now like his exact opposite. While Sarutobi was an old man, he still had warmth and enthusiasm that seemed timeless and welcoming, but at the same time, held a stern and wise presence that made his shinobi soldiers trust him, want to stand tall and fight alongside him in battle. But Danzo's voice was bitter, cold, and made him sound more like a ruthless dictator whose subjects would sooner fear his orders rather than follow them with dedication and passion. It was probably due to his experiences from the various wars and battles he had been involved in that literally carved him into the man he was now. Naruto never recalled a time when this man was seen alongside the other elders when it wasn't at a funeral or in some dark meeting room.

Danzo seem to treat the shinobi in the room with immense distance when he ordered them to be seated. Naruto thought he might have been afraid of them but his face was frozen with calculation and coldness. Naruto sat down beside Iruka and Yugao while the old man sat in the middle of the couch where the office desk should have been. There was no desk as the room was a disused office. The ANBU stood at either side of him after he was handed a scroll from one of the soldiers.

The old man cleared his throat before he announced to the assembled crowd, "Herein set forth, the last will and testament of Hayate Gekko…"

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><p>Danzo was sent in to read the will of the deceased swordsmaster, much to the sadness of his friends and one former student. The old man also collected and handed out the bequests Hayate left to his friends and loved ones as each of them received a substantial memento. Before the individual bequests were handed out to the shinobi, Hayate seemed to leave behind one particular bequest for his former teammates as a prank from beyond the grave.<p>

Danzo said in a voice as authoritative as he could muster, "To my dear friends Izumo and Kotetsu, in acknowledgement of your numerous years of you two making fun me and the length of my sword and beseech to you… a boot to the head?"

Ibiki responded at once when he removed his shoe and threw it at Izumo as hard as he could. The chunin was thrown off his chair and crashed into Kotetsu while the others in attendance laughed, even Yugao as her lover would write something like that into his will. But Danzo wasn't amused in the slightest and stared at their behavior with disgust. Naruto snorted without control while Iruka tried to hold his laughter back and failed.

Danzo continued to read for at least an hour as each person received a small inheritance that held more sentimental value than financial value to his friends. Izumo received another boot to the head but also a collection of photographs from their earlier careers when the three of them were on the same team and started out with their first missions. The shinobi also received a number of other values that included old hand buzzers and old-fashioned tricks he and Kotetsu used to tease him.

Genma received a number of various weapons that Hayate figured he wouldn't need in the event of his death. The older shinobi almost cried when he discovered most of the weapons were senbon needles.

After Genma collected his inheritance, Danzo moved back to Kotetsu, who received a scroll with a weapon hidden inside it. It was a mace that resembled a massive conch shell with a chain attached to the base of the hilt. Kotetsu resealed it into the scroll where he summoned it from and tucked the scroll and nodded in melancholy as he treasured his friend's final wishes. It seemed to be a weapon he would need in the future as he sat back down beside Izumo, who received a container of starch syrup that had some importance between him and Kotetsu.

Yugao was next on the list and inherited almost all of Hayate's belongings and the riches he amassed from his shinobi career. She didn't look pleased at all, in fact, she looked guilty as she read the numbers. Yugao's face started to turn red and covered her mouth as she sniffed and accepted the inheritance. Anko moved in to comfort her and she leaned in close to the kunoichi for support.

The others in the room received smaller tokens from the late swordsmaster, which included a few scrolls for Iruka, Aoba, Anko, and Ibiki, which didn't hold much value to them, but still appreciated the thought.

Soon the old man reached the final name on the list. Danzo shared a look with Naruto as the blonde rookie felt somewhat unnerved. He had no idea what his friend would ever leave him and that familiar cold look of indifference from the scarred elder didn't make him feel much better, but he listened well as the old man sat tall in his seat.

Danzo cleared his throat and said, "To Naruto Uzumaki…"

The old man stared at the teen and his frown seemed to recede somewhat as he relaxed in his seat.

"I leave him with the sword of my master that first taught me how to use a blade. It was handed down to him from his master and his master before him and so forth…"

Both Naruto and Iruka stiffened and blinked as both of them remembered that blade and knew Naruto had it back at home in his rucksack. The two brothers wanted to share their looks of confusion and bewilderment, unaware if the elders even knew Hayate had handed down his sword before his death. Naruto looked to the two ANBU on either side of the elder and didn't see one of them present a scroll to him like the others did with the weapon sealed inside with a special ninjutsu.

Naruto asked, "Where is it then?"

Neither of the ANBU moved as the elder stared down at the teen.

"I didn't see any reason for someone like you to possess such a dangerous bequest," he answered, "The rest of the Konoha Council agreed with me on the matter that an object of such significant historical and intrinsic value should be placed in more capable hands. That sword in question is older than I am, as it was passed down from master to student for over a dozen generations. As you are a rookie genin, it wouldn't make sense to trust such an ancient and dangerous blade in such unqualified hands."

Naruto's right hand flinched at the answer and balled it into a fist. Other than his hand, he remained still as he frowned at the elder and fought the urge to mouth him off. Naruto still had the sword he inherited at home, but even if the elders didn't know that, it still infuriated him how prejudiced the Konoha Council still was. First their ignorance prevented him from being officially adopted and now they were willing to deny him something that rightfully belonged to him, all because he was a jinchuuriki.

Danzo and the other two elders embodied the worst of what Konoha had to offer in Naruto's honest opinion. The elders were the wealthiest, most well fed, ignorant, two-faced bigots that made his childhood miserable. Just because he was a jinchuuriki didn't make him less human but the elders decided he didn't deserve to be treated as such and seemed to go out of their way to make him feel like an outcast. Naruto thought back to how he attacked Temari after he learned how Suna had treated Gaara for his condition, and now he was tempted to do something similar in nature to Danzo but to a more controlled degree. He knew better than to lash out and attack the elder, but his anger grew so much faster than it ever had before over the matter. First the ANBU called him a jinchuuriki instead of his name, ordered him to come out here and attend this will reading, only to be told he didn't deserve the only thing his dear friend had left him as his dying wish. With that said, Naruto felt now was the time to make a stand and address what he had been bottling up ever since he first learned he contained the Kyuubi.

"With all due respect, sir," he said with a cold tone that made it clear he felt insulted from Danzo's explanation, "What exactly makes me unqualified to wield that sword?"

The old man seemed somewhat surprised at how Naruto spoke out while the others in the room stared at him and felt an intense dislike for the elder when all of them knew the true reason Naruto was denied his bequest. Iruka, Anko, and even Yugao were tempted to protest to the decision and address how unfair it was until Naruto spoke out and all eyes were on him.

Danzo scoffed and then said in a condescending voice, "It's a complicated matter. It would be a waste of time trying to explain my reasons to someone such as yourself."

"So it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm a jinchuuriki?" the blonde teen asked with a voice loud and clear.

With that one sentence, the enter room stiffened with discomfort. Naruto's comrades froze in silence for what the blonde rookie said out loud. No one in the room expected Naruto to address the controversial issue and in the blunt manner he did so. Iruka wanted to hold Naruto's shoulder to calm him down as he noticed the tone in his voice, but even he knew how the elders had treated him was unfair and it was about time Naruto made it clear how he felt about it. He had the right to do so, so he let him continue.

Danzo stared at the rookie with a look of mild surprise before his expression returned to the look of cold indifference. Naruto shot him a look as well; a subtle frown stretched across his face but his eyes were filled with a fire of hatred as his fist continued to shake once in a while. He was barely able to hold in his true feelings but was able to hold off the magical effect it would have had if he were younger.

Naruto's voice calmed down, but his tone was still hostile as he said, "I think it would save us both a lot of time if we agree not to lie through our teeth."

The elder seemed to study the rookie from the distance as he blinked and focused on the look in his eyes, the intensity, as he recognized the defiant tone in his choice of words. He reached across his chest to hold onto his crippled arm in a protective, or defensive manner as he raised his head and tried to look down upon the teen.

"Your mother was Kushina Uzumaki, wasn't it?" he asked, trailing from the question he was asked in the first place.

The rookie answered, "Yes."

"I remember her... and I remember her defiant attitude, always interfering and standing up to her superiors. You seem to have inherited that from her as well as that intense look in her eyes," he said as he laid back in his chair and then spat out, "I never liked her nor did I find her particular attitude amusing. You don't seem much different than she was... Just as strange… Just as… abnormal."

"You still haven't answered my question," the blonde rookie reminded in a harsher tone, "Are you denying me the bequest because I'm a jinchuuriki, yes or no?"

Danzo's frowned stretched farther and he said without a hint of regret in his voice, "If you want me to be honest with you and save us both time… Yes, I have."

Naruto's eyebrows twitched and his own frown deepened as well.

"So instead of putting that sword in the hands of a capable shinobi, that's loyal to the village and knows how to use it, you'd rather put it on display somewhere to collect dust?" he asked.

Danzo retorted and curled his mouth into a subtle, smug grin, "I find it curious that you actually believe yourself to be a capable shinobi. It's so absurd it almost amusing to me."

The shinobi and kunoichi in attendance were surprised at what the elder had said. Iruka blinked and stared at Danzo before he frowned at the old man's words and even more so when he smiled at his last comment and almost chuckled. Naruto's face seemed to harden as if he were made of stone, as it took a lot for him to be able to contain his anger towards the old man's smile.

"Were you not paying attention to the previous Chunin Exams?" the blonde rookie challenged as he reminded the elder, "I defeated Kiba Inuzuka and Neji Hyuga in the finals. I think that entitles me to some credit."

Danzo's mouth curved back into the same frown from earlier as he said, "The latter of which wouldn't have been possible if you didn't set the arena on fire with that demon chakra."

"I wouldn't have had to set the arena on fire if my opponent weren't so dangerously stubborn and emotionally unstable," retorted Naruto.

But then the elder threw back, "It doesn't change the fact that you frightened more people than you impressed. You endangered the lives of those citizens in attendance by tapping into those dangerous chakra reserves."

"That is not true," the blonde rookie almost shouted and stood up, "I had it under control. I didn't hurt any-"

But then, someone to the side coughed to interrupt Naruto and all eyes were on Kotetsu as Naruto leaned back into his chair. The chunin earned Danzo's attention as well while the elder waited for the shinobi to speak.

Kotetsu stammered in an awkward position, "I, uh-"

"What is it?" demanded the impatient elder.

The shinobi cleared his throat and said, "I was just saying, looking back at the match, Naruto probably deserved to be promoted to the chunin rank, Danzo-sama. At the time I thought, had it been a real battle, he would have endangered his comrades on the field with him if he unleashed the firestorm. But if his opponent didn't have complicated issues from the preliminaries with his cousin and focused on the scenario the tournament set up, he would have done the smart thing and surrendered to Naruto's ultimatum."

"That would have resulted in Naruto's immediate promotion to chunin," added Izumo.

Genma decided to weigh in as well, as he was the proctor of the examination at the time, "Not to mention he defeated Neji using a sword. The demon chakra was only a distraction that disoriented Neji. That's... actually very close to the classic ideal of classic ninjutsu, which is misdirection, now that I think about it."

The shinobi with the senbon in his mouth puzzled over his last sentence while the chunin schoolteacher across from him decided to share Naruto's most remarkable credit from those hectic examinations.

Iruka told the elder and the others in the room around him, "Naruto is also the one that stopped Gaara when he went on a rampage. The rookie from Suna transformed into the One-Tailed Tanuki and would have destroyed the village but Naruto stopped him before he even reached the outer wall."

"It's true," said Yugao and all eyes were on her now, as the shinobi and kunoichi in the room were shocked, "One of the ANBU on my squad witnessed the end of the battle and helped carry little Naruto and his teammates to the hospital… If Hayate were still alive, he would have wanted his sword to be handed down to someone with his courage and determination. Naruto deserves to have it. He was Hayate's student and it belongs to him now."

Danzo didn't seem to believe their recounts or simply didn't care as he brushed off their words and said, "It wouldn't matter anyway because the exact whereabouts of the sword are unknown."

Several people in the room blinked at what the elder had just brought up and all of them were confused as to why Danzo even brought the final bequest to light at all.

Genma asked for clarification, "What?"

"The sword is missing," answered Danzo.

Naruto stood from his seat and shouted, "Then why did you even bring it up in the first place?!"

The elder blinked at Naruto's sudden movement but neither of the ANBU moved in to restrain him, as he didn't make another move towards the elder. Danzo relaxed in his seat and maintained his cold disposition as he talked down to Naruto as if he were a much smaller child.

He told him, "I figured it would have been appropriate if I-"

"You figured it'd be fun to rub it in my face, then, Danzo?!" the blonde rookie accused, "Trying out new ways to make my life miserable?!"

Iruka stood and tried to get his little brother to sit down and calm down, "Naruto!"

He threw Iruka's hand off his shoulder but then he did calm down as he stared at Danzo and started to remember him, the last time he had ever seen him before the funeral, back when he was a toddler in his little red boots, the old man that called him an animal, "I remember now… You were the man in that chamber that forced me to move out of the Sarutobi estate… and then forced me to live in that miserable excuse for an apartment… until Iruka-aniki had the decency to set me free from that place and let me live with him!"

Danzo stammered, "I-"

"HAVEN'T YOU HAD ENOUGH?!" the rookie shouted with malice, "Just because I'm jinchuuriki doesn't mean I don't have feelings or makes me any less human! IF ANYONE IN THIS ROOM IS LESS THAN HUMAN IT'S PROBABLY YOU!"

The old man found his composure when the teen insulted him and hissed, "How… DARE YOU-"

"How dare I?!" the blonde rookie stood taller and made one step closer to the old man as he pointed at him, screaming, "HOW DARE YOU!"

The ANBU moved in closer to Danzo but the blonde wizard did not approach the elder further but he didn't need to as the other shinobi and kunoichi sat there and watched as Naruto unleashed his intense hatred of the elders out on the leader of all three of them.

"I AM NOT THE DEMON FOX! I NEVER HURT ANYONE IN MY LIFE BEFORE I BECAME A SHINOBI AND YOU TREATED ME LIKE I WAS SOME KIND OF A MONSTER BEFORE I WAS OLD ENOUGH TO EVEN CLEAN THE DROOL OFF MY OWN CHIN, YOU MISERABLE, IGNORANT, TWO-FACED BASTARD!"

It was all he needed to shout as he sat back down and tried to contain the urge to take out his wand and blast Danzo through the wall. Iruka and the others did not shout for Naruto to be silent as all of then knew now how much the council mistreated him and burdened him with a fate he never asked for. None of them felt the need to scold him or hit him in the head, especially after what Danzo said next.

"With that attitude you inherited from your whore mother I don't really expect you to have a very successful future," he said to insult the rookie and see what he would do next.

Genma, Ibiki, Aoba, Yugao, Izumo, Kotetsu, Anko, and Iruka were shocked at the remark Danzo made. But what shocked them even more was how Naruto reacted to the remark. Most would expect the rookie to run after the elder and attack him as he shouted and screamed every curse word in the book, defending his mother's good name. But to their surprise, Naruto remained calm and as he glared at the old man. The lights in the room flickered, but then dimmed back to normal as Naruto cracked a calm smile that curled into a subtle smirk.

Naruto said after he let out a low chuckle, "You know… now I'm not surprised why the Nidaime Hokage chose Hiruzen Sarutobi as his successor, over some crippled, miserable coward."

The old man's smirk vanished in an instant as all the shinobi in the room stared at Naruto with a mixture of shock, admiration, and fear for his future. No one had ever showed the elders such a level of defiance, as no one was ever so bold as to insult them. Iruka should have scold Naruto for his behavior and apologized for him; the worst reprimand he could ever muster. But he couldn't do it; it didn't feel right after what he and the others heard Danzo say to him. The crippled elder went too far with his biased and remarkably prejudiced choice of words; how he laughed at Naruto's statement and dismissed the support of the other adults. Iruka and the others knew Naruto had been the Konoha Council's whipping boy for years and this time the young man had been pushed into a corner by the worst of the three elders. Danzo twisted his arm and forced the blonde teen to rebel against the oppression that made his childhood miserable. Danzo could have avoided all this trouble with a simple choice of words but the old man chose to antagonize. The elder acted in such a childish manner, it made him lose sympathy for the shinobi and kunoichi in attendance. So Iruka sat back but inched closer to Naruto, so as to protect him while he and the others felt Danzo deserved what Naruto said about him.

And the blonde rookie continued, saying, "Hiruzen Sarutobi isn't the greatest Hokage to ever live and he certainly isn't perfect… but at least he's kind, understanding, and a good grandfather. He understands what it means to be a great leader and I wish he didn't have three of the worst advisors on the face of the planet to slow him down… You are nothing compared to him."

The adults in the room started to relax when Naruto turned his insult into a prideful speech about the Sandaime. It seemed to soften the blow of the initial impact and could have saved Naruto from a serious punishment. The adults seemed to relax somewhat, though Naruto's dauntless attitude made them think he should have cooled down a bit.

Danzo's reaction was almost priceless; at first the old man had frowned, but then his mouth twitched, followed by his eye while his pupils seem to fluctuate in size from the intense emotions he tried to hold back and contain. Naruto and the others sensed a small amount of killer-intent emit from the old man but was extinguished almost as soon as it was sensed. The elder breathed through his nose in slow, calm breaths but his hostilities were poorly concealed in his mannerisms as he quickly felt the need to end the charade as soon as possible and with as much dignity.

"Back to the matter at hand," he said as he clearly failed to hide his resentment towards the blonde teen, "This concludes the will reading."

The old man stood and his ANBU escorts stationed themselves close beside him. Before he left, Danzo stared down at Naruto with a look filled with poorly concealed hatred while the blonde teen remained didn't move or feel intimidated as he sat there and stared back at him.

"Don't bother trying to get your claws on that sword anytime soon," said the old man as he emphasized his use of the word, _claws_, "If I have my way, even if that sword is missing, once we find it I'll see to it that you never see even one shine of light on that blade."

Naruto then told him as if he didn't even care about the sword, and further cemented his earlier opinion of the old man, "Go ahead… You do that."

With that said, Danzo shuffled out of the room with the ANBU at his sides. The adults remained dumbfounded at what had happened, baffled at what the elder had said and with such childish malice. No one knew if what Naruto had said and done was wrong when the much older adult allowed the intense conversation to drag on as long as it did and antagonized the rookie. The adults would soon leave, worried about Naruto's fate but determined to come to his aid if the elder ever made a move to harm him. Iruka and Anko were worried the most, as the two of them were like surrogates parents to Naruto now. But Anko reassured him and Iruka that Danzo was in no position to affect Naruto's life or career after the most influential Tokubetsu in Konoha witnessed his own foul behavior. If Danzo ever made Naruto's remarks an issue to the Konoha Council, there were nine witnesses to defend him and address Danzo's actions as well. Danzo would be as accountable, if not, more so than Naruto ever would.

Anko's words were enough to make Iruka relax and let the incident slide, but Naruto didn't seem as calm. After that intense confrontation with Danzo, he wasn't so much worried as he was unsettled at the elder's attitude towards him. His hatred was so much more personal than any incident he ever had with the villagers. The hatred he sensed from that old man ran deeper than it did with any other antagonist he ever encountered. It felt as if Naruto had harmed him and he took it personal. Perhaps he was crippled by the Kyuubi and held a grudge against Naruto because of it. Or maybe it was because of his mother; the old man's intense dislike for Kushina was obvious, if she had done something to him in the past to wrong him or defied him.

But no matter the case, it was clear that Naruto's conflict with Danzo Shimura wasn't over.

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><p>To Be Continued…<p>

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><p><strong>And there's the latest chapter! Sorry it took so long, guys, but that scene between Naruto and Danzo had to be revised over a dozen times. I either went too overboard with the insults or made them too subtle. I had to take the time to balance it out until I wrote the final version here. I hope it turned out well and I'll do my best on the next chapter, where Jiraiya makes his return!<strong>

**Azeroth44 was too busy to contribute except for the dialogue between Naruto and Danzo, but he might be in the introduction next time. Anyway, I better get back to writing the next chapter and I really look forward to reading your reviews!**

**See you guys next time!**


	5. Toad Sage Invitation

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

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><p><strong>And we're back and this time, Azeroth44 finally crawled back! And i<strong>**n addition to Azeroth44's return, I also have a little announcement with the chapters: this chapter will actually be a lot shorter than I planned. I decided to end the chapter on a certain part of the plot where I felt was a good scene best left for the end of a chapter, rather than in the middle. The next chapter should be out in maybe a week, two weeks, or three weeks if I'm really busy, but until then I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I really look forward to reading your reviews soon! The plot is starting to thicken a bit here!**

**Azeroth44: F%$# YOU, DUDE!**

**Naruto: Whoa! Little hostile, aren't we?!**

**Kvsyaoran: Yeah, man! Relax! I thought you'd be psyched, after all I am giving you that copy of the Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds!**

**AZ44: … Oh, yeah! F%$# YOU SIDEWAYS, DUDE!**

**K: That's… better?**

**N: He was smiling when he said that, right?**

**K: I'm not sure smiling makes it any better...**

**AZ44: It does for me *smiles* Didn't you know I'm related to Film Brain?!**

**K: That would make a lot of sense.**

**N: That doesn't make any sense at all.**

**K: Shush! He's crazy! Let him say what he wants!**

**AZ44: You both realize neither of you were whispering, right?**

**K: DAMN!**

**AZ44: It's CHAINSAW-TIME! I'M BONKERS NOW!**

**N: But you don't even have a-**

**K: WHEN WILL YOU EVER LEARN?! *grabs Naruto and runs* AHHHHHHHH!**

**AZ44: *Pretends to chase but then sits down* HA! Works every time! Now let's check out what's on tumblr *checks trending topics and frowns* Why are there so many ponies on here?!**

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><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the Property of Masashi Kishimoto**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling**

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><p>Chapter 5: Toad Sage Invitation<p>

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><p>After the incident with Danzo, the blonde rookie stashed his sword at the bottom his beaded rucksack so that no one would be able to find it. He soon realized he could never use the weapon out in public or even on a mission after what happened between him and the elder. But that didn't stop him from taking it out at home once in a while and taunted the elder in secret to make Iruka crack up. Naruto didn't hear from the Konoha Council or Danzo after the incident as Anko predicted and the blonde teen could sit back and relax as he returned to his usual duties.<p>

One morning, Iruka was back at the school to continue the reconstruction and introduce the new curriculum to the other instructors. He wanted the teachers to work closer to the students and make their lectures easier for the students to follow and promote stronger camaraderie amongst them. Meanwhile, Naruto had to return to his team but he and Harry debated whether or not he should even go. The blonde teen was still upset over how his sensei failed to remember his birthday and Harry suggested that he skip out this time to spite him. But as upset and hurt as he was at his sensei's ignorance, he was tempted to go back and give him another chance to redeem himself. If Kakashi had enough time to realize what he forgot, the look of shock and devastation on his silver-haired teacher's masked face might give Naruto the heart to forgive his teacher.

'_I'm going give Kakashi-sensei one more chance to apologize this afternoon._'

'_**Forget about him, Naruto. He's had his chance and he blew it,**_' then the older wizard shook his head as he seemed to look at Naruto from across the room in the real world, in a ghostly vision, '_**I think it's about time we ditch him for once and show him what it's like. That'll help him wake up.**_'

Naruto looked down at his feet as his fingers graced his rucksack, as he felt compelled to toss it aside. After a few minutes for his brother's words to sink in, he made up his mind and stomped out his thoughts about his team and Kakashi.

'_I don't know if I should ditch this time… If I didn't go, what do you suggest we do instead?_'

'_**We could train in the fields and work on some shadow clone possession. Just us two, like we did back in the old days. I could check the Scroll of Sealing for once. I don't think I ever read it once after we copied it here in the mindscape.**_'

'_Ok, but what would we do after that? Iruka-aniki will be busy all day._'

'_**I don't know,**_' the wizard admitted as he pondered their choices, '_**But we could go to the movies downtown. We haven't done that in ages and it could be fun. Iruka could come too if he's not too tired or on another date with Anko… but on the other hand, if he's on a date with her, it would be wise to avoid the movies. We don't want to stumble upon them by accident and catch them snogging.**_'

'_Ewww,_' the blonde rookie thought as he shook his head, '_I still don't know. But… I think it would be best if I grab some ramen at Ichiraku first. I still need some time to think about this. But we'll work on the shadow clones later this afternoon, team mission or no team mission._'

'_**Very well then**__**,**_' the wizard exclaimed as he marched towards the front door, '_**Allons-y!**_'

Naruto cracked a smile as he rolled his eyes and hulled his rucksack over his shoulder. He marched towards the door and almost flicked his wrist to take out his wand to lock the door as he left. But when he opened the door, he was surprised when he found his path was blocked by a daunting figure. He was blanketed in shadow when he looked up and saw the wide smile of a familiar white-haired, tattooed, middle-aged man.

"Hello there, kid!" shouted Jiraiya of the Sannin.

Naruto's face almost turned white as he backed off and stammered in fear, "What are you doing here?"

The Sannin hopped like a frog and stood outside the door to summon a massive toad, like the one he summoned at their first encounter at the bathhouses. The landing of the apartment building shook and moaned beneath the weight of the immense creature while Jiraiya performed a kabuki dance, waving his arms as the toad beneath him drummed the gigantic beads of his necklace to provide some special music as Jiraiya finished his outlandish introduction.

"It's me! JIRAIYA! The Toad Sage! One of the Sannin and I've returned to Konoha once more! There's no woman I can't charm! No creature too monstrous for me to tame! I am the wild and legendary sex god and world famous novelist!"

The toad vanished with a blast of white smoke and Jiraiya landed on his wooden sandaled feet and approached a terrified and very hostile Naruto. The blonde rookie reached for the closest weapon he could find at arms reach, which turned out to be an umbrella next to the coat rack.

"STAY BACK!" he shouted as he held the umbrella like a sword, "I'M ARMED, OLD MAN! AND I AM VERY CROSS!"

"WHOA! Kid! Relax! I-" the rookie took a swing and almost knocked the Sannin's teeth out but he missed as the older shinobi took a step back before he held his arms up in surrender, "WHOA! I HEARD IT WAS YOUR BIRTHDAY, SO I THOUGHT I WOULD PAY YOU A VISIT! I MEAN NO HARM! I COME IN PEACE!"

Naruto seemed to relax as he stood outside the door but didn't lower his weapon while he stated, "You're a bit late for that. It was last week."

"I know," the old man answered as he started reaching into his vest, "I was out of town for a while. I had to find this at a store that wasn't in Konoha. Here. I think it's a nice token for a fresh start for the two of us."

Jiraiya withdrew a small wine-colored cardboard box that was decorated with an emerald bow. The box must have been made in a store, as it was too neat, balanced, and even to have been crafted with someone with hands as massive and scarred as the Sannin's. The tall and broad shoulder man leaned down and handed the box to a cautious Naruto, who slowly took it as he lowered his weapon. He seemed surprised that a man that once tried to kill him in one of the most terrifying ways possible would ever be thoughtful enough to give him a belated birthday present.

"You didn't have to," he answered in a softer voice and said with a nod, "But thanks… I suppose."

The toad Sannin smiled and urged the teen to walk with him as he rubbed his stomach, "Come with me for a little while. I want to know if there's anything good to eat around here other than fried chicken. My physician told me I have to hold back on fried foods for a while. You know any good restaurants, kid?"

"Alright, then," the rookie said after he collected his rucksack and forgot about his team for once, but he never lowered his guard around the Sannin, "You better like ramen."

Jiraiya then told him with a wide smile, "As a matter of fact, I love ramen!"

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><p>The two of them traveled to Ichiraku Ramen and had a few bowls of Teuchi's finest. Naruto started to lower his guard a little more now that one of his old friends was there to look out for him. Jiraiya really seemed to enjoy his meal and so did Naruto, but he came here a lot more often than the Sannin. The blonde-haired teen took a break from his noodles and stared at the older shinobi with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity after he watched the man swallow down the last of his broth and cleaned his teeth with a toothpick.<p>

"You didn't come here to throw me off another cliff, did you? And this visit to Ichiraku Ramen isn't my last meal or something?" the blonde rookie asked and then referred to his wand when he warned him, "You should know that I've had a taser on me since that incident at the ravine."

Jiraiya sighed and then said with an awkward smile while he rubbed the back of his neck, "I would like to apologize for that little incident, Naruto. I thought I could get you to use the chakra of the demon fox if your life was in serious danger. The instinct to survive is strong enough to trigger something like that and I was certain it would work. But I want to make it clear that I never meant any harm…"

But then the Sannin paused and seemed perplexed as he thought back to that memorable afternoon.

"You know," he said, "When I think about it, I really can't remember much after you fell down the ravine."

Naruto saw this coming a mile away and he had a little cover story prepared if the Sannin ever came around with questions about his first Apparation.

"You don't remember?" he asked and then told him in a matter-of-fact tone, "I was swallowed whole."

Jiraiya seemed lost, "What?"

"The toad that I summoned at the last minute, it was so huge that it swallowed me whole and shot me out like a bullet. I landed somewhere back on the surface. But it was so fast that I didn't know where I was until later. You didn't react well to it. You must have thought that I had teleported or something," and then he said as he scratched the end of his nose, "And then you sort of… screamed. And then you fainted."

"Oh," the Sannin blinked and then smiled, "Cool!"

Naruto cracked a sly smile as he lifted his bowl and drank down his broth, "Yeah."

"You also showed some incredible self-control in the finals. I've never seen someone able to show that level of restraint with demon chakra," the Sannin had to admit.

The blonde rookie blinked and stared at the older shinobi in surprise, "You were there at the match?!"

"Yeah, I was there," he smiled, "I watched it from the roof and I almost fell off when the fire broke out. But once it was done and the crowds went wild, I felt no reason to stick around. Besides, the other matches didn't excite me as much as the first one."

Naruto could hide a subtle smile at rose in his face or the small blush in his cheeks as one of his teachers praised him for his accomplishments at an event that meant a lot to him, unlike another teacher he wished could have been there to watch him, or teach him.

"Thanks," he said but then he said in a more embittered voice, "Kakashi-sensei didn't show his dumb face on time to see me fight."

Jiraiya stared at Naruto with a more serious look before he blinked and said with a shrug, "That's a shame. So wanna see what's in that box?"

"Um," the blonde rookie never even bothered to open it until now, he realized, "Sure."

He untied the bow in one smooth movement and then opened the box to find something he never expected to have gifted to him. It was a small handheld device with a screen built into half of it and a circular button beneath it, complete with a set of white headphones. Naruto had seen kids with these in their ears all the time but he could never afford one, let alone think about owning one.

"Is this an MP3 Player?!" he asked.

Jiraiya smiled and nodded, "The latest model."

"Heh!" the blonde rookie broke out into laughter and couldn't believe it was his, "Wow! This is incredible! Oh, but I don't know how to download music onto this."

The Sannin said, "No need. I had music and videos transferred into it last week on the tenth of October. There's about six thousand albums on there and over nineteen different genres with the latest anime and TV shows on there as well, I checked."

"Oh, man…" the rookie blushed as he confirmed what the Sannin had said, as it was filled with the best albums and shows that even he watched.

Jiraiya crossed his arms and motioned for Naruto to offer him a little praise with a smug smile, "C'mon! Let me hear it!"

"I don't believe this," he breathed and actually went ahead and hugged the older shinobi, "Thanks so much, Ero-Sennin!"

Jiraiya patted Naruto on the back and forced the smile on his face now and mumbled, "I hate that nickname… so much."

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><p>After lunch, Naruto and Jiraiya took a stroll around the village and talked for hours. The blonde rookie was able to let go of his hostilities and mistrust of the Sannin, so long as he wasn't asked to drain his chakra down to zero and summon toads. The two of them talked about the weather, the reconstruction effort, missions, and even shared a few stories with each other. With no deadline or intense training involved between the two of them, Naruto really started to like Jiraiya. He was the biggest pervert in the world, but he wasn't a bad person or someone like Ebisu. The white-haired Sannin was laidback, funny, eccentric, and energetic, which was surprising for a man of his age. Sometimes he had so much energy in his voice and in his movements, you would think he was still a teenager ignoring his tall and somewhat aged appearance.<p>

The two of them had some dango at the Amaguriama and shared a few stories about missions. The Sannin even told Naruto about a few of his own adventures about how he discovered rare ape-like creatures in the mountains and wrestled them. Naruto believed a few stories, but most of them seemed too convenient for the hermit to come out on top. Naruto shared his own fable about the phoenix he met but the older shinobi didn't believe him and laughed when the rookie shouted that it was true. Even Harry started to like him a little bit more, though he wasn't sure he would ever trust him. There was something about the Sannin that made him feel a little uneasy but he couldn't explain why. But he was certain the hermit meant no harm.

The late afternoon sun rolled in after hours of conversation and full tummies when Jiraiya walked Naruto back home. The blonde rookie approached his door and bid the Sannin farewell, feeling he and the older man had gotten over their hurtle.

Naruto nodded and waved, "Again, thanks a million for the belated birthday present! It's fantastic!"

But the Sannin didn't seem to want to leave and called out to the rookie.

"Hold on for one more second there, kiddo," he said.

The blonde wizard turned to him and asked, "What is it?"

"I didn't come to visit so that we could start over and be friends. I also came here to make an offer. I need an assistant to come with me once I need to leave the village in a little while from now. It'll be one hell of an adventure," the Sannin said as he tried to enticed Naruto.

And the rookie asked, "Where are you going?"

"You see there is this beautiful blonde babe I need to search for," the old man blushed and giggled as he scratched his cheek, "And I'll need some assistance in order to find her!"

"I'm sold," the blonde rookie said with a flat and sarcastic voice, "But ask me again when I'm eighteen, when I'm old enough to be interested in that stuff."

Jiraiya's blush vanished in an instant and he frowned when he crossed his arms and said with a loud and clear voice, "Well, she's more than some normal blonde babe with a massive rack. She's a medical-nin, and she's the last chance that the old man has if he wants to live."

"What?" the rookie turned around and blinked.

The white-haired Sannin then said in a much more serious and solemn tone, "The Sandaime is going to die, Naruto. I'm afraid it's been confirmed."

"W-What?" the rookie stammered, "What d'you mean?"

Jiraiya then explained to him, "It was from the fight with Orochimaru during the invasion. That bastard must have used one of his snakes to bite the old man before he fled the scene. It turns out that Sarutobi has been fighting off the venom ever since he was bitten and now he's become too weak to resist the effects and fell into a coma… He doesn't have more than a few months left to live. The Sandaime will die unless I can find this certain medical-nin I mentioned and return her here to Konoha to fix the old man."

Naruto stared at the Sannin before he looked down at his feet and thought back to how the old man looked when he last saw him. He remembered how aged, sick, and miserable he looked, as if he were about to kill over at any minute. Flashes of warm memories of the old man soon bombarded him; countless times he sat with the old man to drink tea or those rare opportunities when Sarutobi played with him in the fields, back when he was a toddler. Naruto then envisioned the funeral of the fallen comrades last month, how the experience made his heart ache and then he started to imagine another funeral. But in his imagination, he saw his grandfather's face on a lone picture frame, seated on a pure white table full of flowers. He could almost hear Konohamaru sobbing in anguish as tears of his own ran down his face in the rain.

The rookie shook couldn't bare the thought for one more moment and his head as he asked, "What can I do?!"

"You could come with me. The Konoha Council came to me earlier and wanted me to become the new Hokage, but I turned down the offer," he admitted and earned a shaken look from the blonde-haired shinobi before he said, "So I had to think of a compromise and convinced them to let me search for this woman. She was chosen because she has the skills to restore the old man back to health with no drawbacks whatsoever. She's the one healer in the entire world that can restore him."

The blonde rookie thought back to his surrogate grandfather and almost thought about the funeral before he opened the door and looked to the Sannin, telling him, "Come inside."

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><p>Naruto boiled some tea and offered some to Jiraiya. The two of them sat across each other but neither one of them drank during their discussion. The blonde rookie listened well as Jiraiya rambled on about the woman he was to seek out and return to the village. Naruto held onto his cup almost too tight as the warmth from the hot water almost burned his hands.<p>

After a moment's silence he asked him, "You want me to come along then?"

"Yes," nodded the Sannin.

Naruto asked him, "What would we do while we're on the road? What could I do to contribute?"

"Well, we would set out and we'll have to travel to each town in the Land of Fire until we track down and find this woman. I could use someone to talk to while I'm on the road," the older shinobi took a sip of his tea and smiled at the unique and somewhat familiar taste, "Besides it beats the ANBU that the council wanted to follow me around with. It's better that I have someone with me that I can trust."

The blonde rookie blinked at that statement, "You trust me over the ANBU? I don't want to sound like I'm not interested, but we don't know each other that well, Ero-Sennin."

"You aren't the best student I've ever had in the slightest. But at least it'll be a little bit of fun to have someone around to talk to and teach," the white-haired Sannin added as he seemed confident he would lure Naruto in.

And it almost worked when the teen smiled, with more excitement, "You would teach me then?"

"You bet!" the older man almost cheered.

But then Naruto looked more serious and suspicious when he asked, "No ravines this time?"

"Heh," the Sannin laughed at that and assured him, "No ravines, kiddo. After what I saw in the arena, I don't think we'll have to take extreme of measures like that."

Though the blonde teen still wasn't sure about it, "I dunno…"

"C'mon," he heard Jiraiya almost whine at first as he tried to convince him, "This is a chance of a lifetime, kiddo! You can learn more ninjutsu while on the road! You'd be able to set out on an adventure, save the Sandaime Hokage, return home stronger than ever before, and welcomed back as a hero, too!"

Naruto seemed a little more interested when Jiraiya mentioned a hero's welcome and even cracked a smile, "Now that's one hell of an offer… But…"

"What is it?" the older shinobi asked, as he seemed more irritated at Naruto's hesitance.

The blonde-haired rookie looked out the window and could see the outer wall as the reconstruction on it continued, "I know it's dangerous outside those walls… I understand what could be out there… Bandits, robbers, and now Orochimaru and his soldiers are out there too," he looked back at the Sannin and admitted, "It makes me a bit worried to leave if I know those freaks are somewhere out there… You promise to return me back home in one piece?"

"I'll do the best I can, kid," the Sannin smiled and nodded with a voice that screamed with overconfidence, "Orochimaru has never beaten me; otherwise I wouldn't still be alive."

Naruto seemed convinced that he would be safe out there with the old hermit, "When would we leave?"

"We'll head out west at the end of the week," he answered, "I have some stuff here in town to settle with before our departure."

The blonde rookie nodded but then he thought back to who and what he would have to leave behind if he were to set out with the biggest pervert he ever knew, "Well… I want to save the Sandaime… But… But I…"

"What is it now?" the Sannin moaned.

Naruto was quick to answer him, "I live here with Iruka-aniki… I mean, I'll have to leave him behind, Anko-nee, and all the others."

"You have folks here at home?" the white-haired hermit was silent for a little while, a bit frustrated it seemed, before he opened his eyes and said, "Well then how about this? You'll have until tomorrow to decide to leave or not. I'll be at this motel. Meet me here before noon tomorrow with an answer. Once all the affairs have been settled, we'll leave."

The rookie looked down at his untouched tea while the Sannin snuck some sake into his own glass from a bottle he had stashed in his vest. While Naruto thought back to his older brother, his surrogate big sister, and even his teammates and sensei while Jiraiya swallowed almost half of what remained of his tea and blushed. Naruto then thought about Sarutobi and worried about him, if he left him behind and feared the possibility of him dying even if he and the Sannin were successful and found this super medic-nin. After a few moments of silence and after Jiraiya finished his tea, he nodded to the Sannin and noticed he seemed drunk.

"Ok…" he answered.

With that said, the Sannin staggered out the door and reminded Naruto of the deadline.

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><p>Over the next several hours, Naruto remained in his bedroom, laid on his bed as he pondered over the events of the afternoon. He told Iruka about the offer and he seemed to support him if it meant it would help the Sandaime. But the chunin had his doubts when it meant Naruto would be alone with Jiraiya. As a surrogate parent, Iruka didn't want Naruto anywhere near the Sannin after what he did at the ravine. But he was confident that Naruto could escape him if he ever tried anything again, and Harry's presence was always a comforting reassurance to him.<p>

Without Anko around to talk to about his situation, the blonde rookie went to bed early but couldn't stop thinking about Sarutobi. As mentioned before, he was worried the old man could die before he even returned to the village and tried to think of a way of how to ensure that wouldn't happen. As Naruto's shadow clone continued to work on the cloak at his desk, Naruto stared at the ceiling as he continued to worry about the Hokage.

'_Even if I leave, there's no guarantee I can make it back in time to save him._'

'_**There isn't a lot we can do, Naruto.**_'

'_I could leave behind a shadow clone to watch over him..._'

'_**Searching for Jiraiya's medic-nin isn't going to take a few hours, mate. Your shadow clones will not last.**_'

'_But i__sn't there something we can do, then? We can't just leave him there at the hospital! He could die before we even come back!_'

'_**Well… We could make something for him.**_'

'_Like what?_'

'_**A potion. Or an elixir that could fight the poison.**_'

'_Do you think we could cure him ourselves?_'

'_**I have no idea what kind of poison Sarutobi was infected with, and I doubt the doctors know either. Besides, our resources for antidotes are quite limited and we can't make a powerful enough brew to ensure it will cure him completely. But we could brew up a quick remedy that can fight off whatever poison is inside him, at least one powerful enough to buy us time.**_'

'_L__et's try it, then! But how would we get it to him without getting caught?_'

'_**You really can't think of anyway to sneak in unnoticed, Naruto? Not even when the answer is practically under your nose?**_'

Naruto look over at his shadow clone with the cloak and said, "Oh."

'_**Christ, you're thick...**_'

The blonde-haired wizard rolled off his bed and searched through the contents of his rucksack. He found a number of small bottles and a small spare cauldron. He went to the kitchen and heated his cauldron while Harry guided him through the detailed instructions.

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><p>The streets of Konoha bustled around with workers and worried civilians as new rumors echoed through the streets. As Naruto walked down the street to the reservoir, exhausted from the potion he brewed for hours last night, couldn't care less as the people around him spoke out loud and didn't take in anything they said. But as he remained ignorant to their ramblings, he missed some valuable, worrisome information.<p>

One woman asked her friend, "Did you hear about Danzo-sama?"

"Yeah, I heard he disappeared," the friend replied.

Another man shook his head and corrected, "He didn't disappear. Danzo-sama left the village. I heard he took a few ANBU escorts with him."

The first woman nodded, "I heard he left to see the Fire Daimyo to discuss the Sandaime's condition. The Fire Daimyo refused to come to Konoha because he didn't think it was safe for him, what with the village still under repair."

"What a coward. Then shouldn't the other elders and the Jounin Commander have left with Danzo-sama?" one person questioned.

The last voice replied, "I heard they had a big meeting recently, discussing who will be in charge of the village now. I don't know what they decided on but I don't think they really made any big decision. It really makes you question what Danzo-sama hopes to achieve in setting out all the way out there."

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><p>As Naruto approached the reservoir, he saw Sasuke and Sakura. He waved to them, tired as he was, but then he noticed Sakura didn't seem pleased with him and Sasuke looked meaner than usual. The blonde rookie blinked as he approached his teammates as Sakura walked up to him in a rush. Naruto almost expected her to hit him but was a little shocked to see her look more disappointed in him as she crossed her arms.<p>

"Naruto, where were you yesterday?!" she questioned.

The blonde-haired shinobi stammered before Sasuke told him, "We had to cancel our mission because you didn't show up, dobe."

"Oh," he said, as he remembered he spent the whole time with Jiraiya the other day and he completely forgot about his attendance and confessed, "I completely forgot we had a mission."

Sakura seemed confused and scold her teammate in a much less hostile manner than he was used to, "How could you forget that we had a mission, Naruto-baka?!"

As soon as he tried to explain himself and apologize to his teammate, there was a loud swish behind him. Kakashi had arrived on the arch, earlier than he often did, and waved down to his students.

"Hello there, team!" he announced, "It looks like we're all assembled this time."

The masked shinobi dropped down to the bridge but then he stared down at Naruto, which made the rookie freeze where he stood. Kakashi rested one hand on his hips and almost seemed cross with his blonde student.

"You failed to show up yesterday, Naruto," he said with a firmer tone, "What were you doing?"

Naruto stammered at first, "I, uh, I was… I was hanging out with a friend of mine the other day."

"You were hanging out?" the masked teacher questioned, "You realize we had to cancel our mission yesterday, right?"

The blonde rookie did feel somewhat guilty after he learned that he inconvenienced his team and cost them a mission. But at the same time, he was angry at Kakashi's audacity to scold him about not thinking about the team when he himself was guilty of doing the same, even now. Naruto would have wanted to protest and point out Kakashi's hypocrisy but he had to balance that and try to explain himself for his own mistake.

"I… I, uh, I didn't think-"

"You didn't think," Kakashi repeated in a firm but calm tone, "What if we were assigned an important mission and we needed you to be there? What would we have done then? Reject the mission, disappoint our clients, and embarrass our village? Or would we have gone ahead, short one man and risk our lives with an incomplete team? Of course that didn't happen, but you never stopped to think about that while you were hanging out?"

Naruto then blurted out, "I forgot that we had a mission, sensei! You know we've had so few of them as of late that it slipped my mind completely!"

"You forgot?" the teacher asked back in a less intense tone, more curious voice and nodded, "Hmmm… I suppose it is true that our missions have been a bit scarce lately, so it makes sense for you to forget every once in a while. But we've discussed when we meet up for our missions before in the wake of recent events. And you shouldn't have forgotten about our mission yesterday. We're supposed to be a team, Naruto."

The blonde rookie wanted to punch Kakashi in the face when he said that last bit. But he was too short to get a good hit and he wasn't bold enough to whip out his wand and hex him. Naruto was tempted to shout at his teacher and call him a word that would have made his late mother shriek, but instead he frowned and scowled at his teacher, '_Who the hell does he think he is?!_'

Kakashi failed to notice this and then he said in a nonchalant voice, "But it can't be helped now. You're here now so let's go on ahead and visit the elders. We have to see them to receive our assignment."

The blonde rookie remained bitter the entire time during their mission, even while he and Sakura delivered milk from the farms to the markets around the village. Naruto glared at Kakashi and hated him more and more while he dismissed his students after their one mission. There was still time for at least two or three missions, as the sun didn't even start to set. Naruto walked off and pretended to leave, but remained hidden until Sasuke returned and watched him and Kakashi marched to the fields to train. Naruto had had it and Disapparated to the Ninja Academy.

At the school, while it was closed from the repairmen and volunteers and while Iruka wasn't there, Naruto found an old training room and took out all of his rage on a punching bag. He struck and kicked the punching bag for over an hour until his knuckles turned raw and began to bleed. He shouted and roared louder and louder until one magical strike blasted the punching bag clean off its chains and made it crash into wall. Naruto took a breather and calmed down as sweat rolled down his face. But his anger towards his sensei didn't subside. It was then that Naruto came to his decision and took off as soon as he felt the skin on his knuckles scabbed over and healed.

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><p>Naruto reached a particular motel while he listened to his new MP3 Player, and knocked on the door of one particular room. He waited for someone to answer the door and while he did so, continued to think about his sensei's actions over the last few months to continue to fuel his decision. He almost bounced on his feet as he heard the sounds of someone on the other side of the door and stood straight.<p>

'_Kakashi-sensei is an ARSEHOLE! He talks about teamwork like he's so infallible! I should have put a spell on him right there!_'

'_**Simmer down, mate.**_'

The door unlocked and out the door appeared the face of the white-haired Sannin. He had left Naruto his current address on a small card in the birthday present box that he found while he brewed Sarutobi's potion last night.

Jiraiya seemed surprised and excited to see Naruto again, "Naruto! You made a decision then?"

"I'll do it," he nodded, "Count me in, Ero-Sennin."

The Sannin was still not pleased with his nickname but said with excitement, "Excellent! Glad to hear, kid!"

"Promise to train me while we're on the road?" the blonde rookie asked with insistence.

"Yeah," the hermit nodded, "You sure that this is what you want?"

"Positive," answered Naruto, "When do we leave?"

Jiraiya told him, "In a few days. I still have a few things to take care of before we leave. As soon as you're packed and ready come and see me and we can discuss your training. Make sure to tell your… aniki where you're going before you come and see me back here. Understood?"

"Yes," the blonde-haired wizard answered, as he had no intention of telling his teacher that he was leaving the village.

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><p>The next morning, Naruto woke up early and checked his rucksack for everything he was bringing with him on his journey. He told Iruka about his trip and the chunin helped him pack up while Anko was busy on her latest mission. Naruto had become overexcited and stuffed his rucksack with almost all the deluxe ramen cups in the house, leaving Iruka with no snacks of his own. After he unpacked the extra food, he and Iruka only packed up everything he needed and no more. The blonde teen had stuffed his new frog wallet with all of the cash he had saved from his missions, loaded Teuchi's pot with fresh batteries, and took his comic book collection for good measure.<p>

After he double-checked his rucksack and polished the kunai Ibiki had given him, he took his supplies and almost danced to the kitchen. But when he walked in, Iruka was wide-awake and he looked worried as he hovered over the radio. But he looked troubled, more worried than Naruto had ever seen him before. When the blonde teen earned his attention, the chunin looked at him and sounded like a disaster had happened.

"Naruto…" he said.

The blonde rookie asked, "What is it?"

"You're not gonna like this," he told him as he turned back to the radio.

There was a little bit of static before Iruka fixed the transmission and turned the volume knob, Naruto then listened in as a familiar newscaster's voice sounded in the same official voice he used for important news announcements.

The newsman said, "_Earlier this morning, a message was received from the Fire Daimyo that he has selected a candidate for the Godaime Hokage. Earlier this week, Danzo Shimura and a select few ANBU escorts arrived at the palace to discuss the urgent matter of Hiruzen Sarutobi's condition. And it has been announced that, despite the wishes of the Jounin Commander, Shikaku Nara, it is now official: that Danzo Shimura is the Godaime Hokage Candidate._"

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><p>To Be Continued…<p>

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><p><strong>Thankfully, Naruto should be able to leave the village before Danzo returns. The next chapter will be released soon, but don't expect it to come out too soon. I really want to finish the chapter after the next one as soon as possible as the shit really starts to hit the fan next time. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please feel free to express your feels in the reviews. I look forward to reading what you guys liked or hated!<strong>

**Until next time! :D**


	6. The Shinobi of Darkness

"Blah": Talking

'**Blah**': Demon speaking/Inner Sakura

'_Blah_': Naruto's thoughts/other people's thoughts

'_**Blah**_': Harry talking to Naruto

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><p><strong>Hello, guys! I'm back with a new episode… I mean, chapter, and t<strong>**his one is going to be pretty short, much like the last one.**

**I really wanted to end the previous chapter with Danzo's Hokage candidacy because it seemed like the perfect place to end it, so that's why this chapter is particularly short. And given the events of this chapter, I think combining the last two chapters together would have made it feel a bit overstuffed or unbalanced. But now I really can't wait to read your reactions to this next plot twist I saved for the end of this chapter! ****Guys, seriously, I really want to read your reviews this time XD I saved this chapter for over two years! I am so excited!**

**Azeroth44: I've been waiting for this one too! I can't wait for the next one when Naruto-**

**Kvsyaoran: SHUT UP! Don't spoil it, dude!**

**AZ44: Right. Sorry about that.**

**K: With Azeroth44 getting his kicks out of scaring us the other chapter, I think now is the best time for us to be a little more civil.**

**AZ44: But I like crazy nonsense…**

**K: Save it for later.**

**AZ44: Awwwwww…**

**Please enjoy this new chapter, readers and followers! I think the ending of this one is pure gold! Don't forget to write a review!**

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><p><strong>Reviews are welcome and wanted!<strong>

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto**

**Harry Potter is property of JK Rowling**

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><p>Chapter 6: The Shinobi of Darkness<p>

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><p>Danzo Shimura would return to Konohagakure later in a few days. The palace where the Fire Daimyo lived was far from the village and the trip back from there would take the elder at least a couple of days. Naruto soon learned that the Hokage Candidate were not official Hokage, so Danzo's face would not be carved into the mountain and some of his powers and authorities were more limited than they would be if he were a true Hokage. He wouldn't be able to make drastic decisions without the consent from a council of the other two elders and a few of Konoha's most influential representatives. It also turned out that Danzo would not become the official Godaime Hokage until the Sandaime died or as soon as it was confirmed that he would never recover from his coma. But despite those setbacks, the Hokage Candidate still had control over the ANBU, mission handouts, and the careers of certain shinobi.<p>

With all of that on his mind, the blonde rookie had to leave with Jiraiya as soon as possible, before the elder returned. After the incident at the will reading, Danzo could make Naruto's life a living hell or have him expelled from the Shinobi Program, purely out of spite. As soon as he heard the news about Danzo's promotion, Naruto rushed back to the motel where he knocked hard on Jiraiya's door.

"Ero-Sennin! OPEN UP! It's me! ERO-SENNIN!"

No one answered and the blonde-haired rookie started to feel nervous. He knocked several times and earned the attention from the other tenants that shouted at him to cut it out and went back to sleep. Someone must have called the manager because he arrived soon after and approached Naruto.

But then the manager blinked when he realized he was outside the door of one of his particular tenants and called out to him, "Are you Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Yeah," the rookie answered back.

The manager handed over a thick envelope and said, "This is from Jiraiya. He left at around sunrise and asked me to deliver this to some blonde kid if he ever came knocking on his door."

Naruto stared at the manager and then at the envelope that had his name on the front. He took it back home with him and found a letter from the Sannin. The blonde-haired rookie read and almost crumbled the message in his hands but continued to read more:

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><p><em>Dear Naruto,<em>

_Please excuse me for the sudden disappearance. But I had to leave when I found out about the elder Danzo's promotion to Hokage Candidate yesterday after you visited. If I didn't leave as soon as I did, he would have forced me to stick around Konoha for the relief effort and we would never have the chance to leave and save the old man. I couldn't risk it. Gomenasai._

_Now read this letter over, kid, and don't miss even the tiniest details._

_You can still come with me to save the old man, but it's going to be a bit difficult. I went to the other elders before I wrote this and told them to let you leave Konoha on your own accord as a test to find me. It took me over an hour to convince them when they said it would leave you at risk of falling into enemy hands. In this letter I left behind a set of directions and a map that will enable you to find me without the risk of you running into other shinobi, criminals, or bandits._

_Trust me, kid. You'll be fine. These directions are flawless and the road I've drawn out is safe. Follow the directions and find me. But make sure to follow these directions in exact detail, I can't stress that enough. If you follow them well enough, you'll be safe and get to see some great views of the countryside, farmlands, rivers, and this incredible lake too along the way._

_You have to trust me, kid. Find me and we can save the old man together._

_Jiraiya, The Toad Sage_

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><p>Naruto read the letter over a dozen times before the Sannin's written word sank in. He checked the other contents of the letter and found a detailed map with directions, tickets, and an identical backup set of directions and map in case he ever lost the first set. Naruto presented the news to Iruka and showed him the letter.<p>

"What the hell is this?!" he outraged in frustration at the Sannin for his incompetence, "Does he have any idea how dangerous it is for a genin to venture out on his own?! Without an instructor?!"

The blonde rookie nodded, "Yeah, but I won't be alone out there, aniki. Nii-san will be with me the entire time."

"I know that," the chunin hesitated, as he understood his adoptive sibling would have his magic to aid him, "But I don't like this idea. Not one bit… These directions do seem legitimate, but it's still too dangerous for anyone to be out there alone. Especially a genin."

"Nii-san isn't pleased with Ero-Sennin's decision either. He agrees with you entirely. But this isn't the first time we've been outside the village on our own. Nii-san also has a lot of experience with dangerous journeys like these."

When Naruto referred to the incident at the Land of Waves and the bandits, as well as the hunt for the Horcruxes. Iruka remembered the memories in the Pensieve and seemed a little bit less unnerved about the situation.

"I'm probably going to lose a lot sleep over this," he said, "But as long as Harry is around and keeping an eye out for you, I guess it's ok with me… But I'm still not happy about it."

Naruto admitted, "Neither am I… But I should be ok. I won't be alone."

Iruka handed the directions back to his little brother and the two of them sat down to breakfast while Naruto read the directions over and over at the table and a half-eaten sausage on his fork.

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><p>The blonde-haired teen spent the rest of the day at home as Naruto and Harry retreated to the mindscape to study the map and the directions further. The two wizards were seated at a table in the library room where they hovered over the map while Harry compared it to a recent map of the Land of Fire. He seemed perplexed and studious as he checked the maps and compared them to one another. Meanwhile, Naruto's face was buried in the directions as he tried his best to memorize them.<p>

Jiraiya's trail went off the beaten track and involved a number of unusual areas and a few independent bathhouses. Naruto thought back to the tickets in the envelope and realized they were to be used to stay at the bathhouses for a free night. The final destination, where Jiraiya would be waiting, was miles over a mountain range and two towns at a city called, Pleasure Avenue. Harry recognized the town as a gigantic festival town that attracted tourists and travelers, but was also notorious for it's red-light district, much to his chagrin.

"That's probably the reason he chose that town over the various provinces in the area," said a dull-faced Naruto.

The older wizard shook his head and said, "Shameless."

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><p>Back in the real world, Naruto decided to leave tomorrow when his team was due to meet at the reservoir at noon. But at the moment, Naruto still had a few tasks left to do and was in his room as he finished one of them.<p>

The shadow clone in his bedroom finished with the last strands and fibers of the material in its hands. The cloak from Tenten, that was once a plain color, now shined like it was made of silver and was softer than even the richest silk or velvet. The shadow clone ran his wand over the material one more time before he looked over to the real Naruto. The two of them then raised their wands and made the cloak levitate. The cloak shined one last time and then it fell to the chair. The shadow clone burst into smoke as the real Naruto watched the material slither down the chair as if it were fluid. He reached out and grabbed the hems of the cloak and smiled as he heard his brother congratulate him.

'_**You've done it, Naruto,**_' he smiled as he shook Naruto's shoulders, '_**You have an invisibility cloak!**_'

The blonde wizard couldn't contain his excitement for one more second. He threw the cloak over his shoulders and turned to face the mirror to see his head suspended in midair.

"YES!" he shouted and laughed.

Naruto covered his head with the hood of the cloak and vanished in the reflection. Footsteps were heard stamping around his bedroom before the door swung open and the footsteps patted into the kitchen and living room. The footsteps stamped back down the hall, the doors to the bathroom and Iruka's bedroom were swung open but no one else was there. Iruka was still at the Ninja Academy and wouldn't be back for at least another hour, when Naruto checked the clock.

"Damn," his disembodied voice cursed, "I wanted to surprise him! Iruka-aniki would have freaked out!"

'_**We can mess around with Iruka all we want later. Right now, we have a mission to do. You have the antidote?**_'

Naruto lowered his hood and his head floated back to his bedroom, "Yeah, I've got it."

'_**Don't forget your wand, too. There's bound to be loads ANBU at the hospital to bewitch.**_'

Naruto collected his wand and his beaded rucksack, and then he vanished under the cloak. A loud crack was soon heard as the dust from the floor whisked into the air from where the blonde wizard Disapparated.

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><p>Naruto arrived in a dark alley outside the hospital. He double-checked the contents of his rucksack before he threw it over his shoulders and vanished beneath the cloak. The blonde rookie made sure he didn't make a sound as he trekked across the street and snuck inside the clinic as a nurse arrived to open the automatic doors. Naruto sneaked around the receptionist's desk and threw a stack of documents on the ground to distract her.<p>

"Oh," she squeaked as she scrambled to the floor to retrieve the documents.

The blonde rookie aimed his wand at the nurse from under the cloak and muttered, "_Muffliato!_"

He then took the moment he had to check the computer for Sarutobi's room number and found him in no time. The Sandaime had his own area in the hospital reserved for his treatment, which came to no surprise, as he was the Hokage. Naruto read the room number in less than a second and walked off, as the nurse remained none the wiser.

Naruto took careful steps to the elevator and waited for someone to come out and sneak in. He had to wait until someone landed on the same floor as Sarutobi, which took him at least a half hour. It was close to sunset and visiting hours would be over, not that Sarutobi was allowed to have visitors, aside from members of his clan. Naruto snuck out from behind a doctor and walked down the halls until he found a room with two ANBU at the doors. One of them had brown hair and a cat mask on, while the other ANBU seemed to be the same one that knocked Naruto out cold at Dosu's corpse, who Iruka had a confrontation with at the Hokage's office over his involvement in the incident. Naruto couldn't resist a small smirk as he aimed his wand at the familiar ANBU.

He muttered, "_Confundo!_"

And the ANBU wavered a bit before he looked to the soldier with the cat mask and shoved him.

"Oi," shouted the cat ANBU, "What was that for?!"

The bewitched ANBU shook his head and asked, "What was _what_ for?"

"You shoved me!" said the cat ANBU.

The ANBU answered back in confusion, "No, I didn't!"

"You did! Just now! You shoved me!" shouted the cat ANBU, "What for?!"

"You're nuts, Tenzo. Just because we're not in the middle of a battlefield doesn't mean we have to be on our toes on a simple guard mission. You can relax a little bit," the ANBU dismissed and looked out ahead, "Stick to the mission."

The cat ANBU, named Tenzo, then shoved the other ANBU back in the same manner as earlier, "There! Now we're even!"

"Oww! Don't shove me!" shouted the ANBU as he shoved Tenzo back.

But Tenzo shoved back and started a fight between the two soldiers. The ANBU wrestled and shoved each other until another ANBU ran down the hall to break them apart. In the commotion, Naruto cast the Muffliato Charm on them and snuck inside the room. He listened in on the commotion and heard the third ANBU order the ANBU that assaulted Naruto to leave. The ANBU order to leave was furious and confused, much to Naruto's satisfaction when he heard him cuss down the hall.

Naruto turned around and locked the door behind him with his wand. When he turned around, he saw the withered and weakened form of the Sandaime. The old man looked even worse than he did when he saw him a few weeks ago. It looked like Hiruzen had aged further as his skin had turned a sick shade of yellow, mixed with new dark spots and even more wrinkles across his now leathery skin. His heartbeat on the monitors was steady but his breathing was slow. He had tubes inserted in his nose, mouth, and both his arms, with a mask over his face to keep him breathing. Medicine seemed to be pumping into him through the aid of the machines, as the Sandaime remained motionless on his bed while his chest moved up and down in synch with wheezing breaths. It was almost too much for Naruto to take in, as the man he loved like his own grandfather had been reduced to a wrinkled mess of a man, dressed in a hospital gown. The blonde rookie shivered as he covered his mouth with his hand out of reflex. He braved the sight as best he could and tried to see the man he remembered through the tubes and wrinkled old skin.

{{_Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's Theme by Murray Gold & BBC National Orchestra of Wales_}}

The blonde rookie lowered his hood as he let the cloak open in the middle. His back and shoulders remained invisible as he walked up beside the old man to get a good look at his face. He sat down in the chair and frowned while his lip quivered and tears threatened to rise in his slowly reddening face.

Sarutobi had failed to give Naruto the blissful childhood he deserved, but the old man had never given up on him and had always supported him as best he could. Naruto thought back to his earliest memories and remembered how kind and gentle Sarutobi had been to him while he cared for him; his warm smile, his kind words, how they ate ramen at Ichiraku together, and the way he ruffled his blonde hair as he caressed Naruto's lightning scar with his thumb. Then he remembered when Sarutobi gave him the photo album and visited Kushina's grave with him. He thought about how he hugged and comforted him through those most emotional and tearful days. After that, he remembered how much the old man had trusted him when the threat of an invasion loomed over them. He had faith in Naruto, as well as all of his citizens while their lives were of the utmost importance to him. He inspired Naruto and made him want to stand up and fight for the Sandaime, or this case, set out on his mission and succeed no matter what. The Will of Fire burned within Naruto's blood but the condition of the Sandaime made him feel weak in the knees.

"Grandpa," he said as his voice failed to conceal his emotions, well aware that the old man couldn't hear him but he didn't care, "I swear I'll come back… You wait here and hold on until I come back… You won't die here… Not like this."

The blonde rookie sniffed before he enchanted the door to hide his voice from the ANBU outside. He then reached back for his rucksack and found the bottles of potion he had brewed; a thin, white liquid that had a special shine to it that made Naruto think of fat-free milk.

"Here," said the blonde rookie as he stood and opened one of the medicines that fed into Sarutobi's bloodstream.

Naruto filled the container until all of the bottles were emptied. Each drop of the antidote wasn't wasted as the milk-like liquid turned clear as the medicine and fed into Sarutobi. The blonde rookie tossed the bottles back inside his rucksack and shouldered it back on under the cloak. He then listened as Sarutobi's breathing suddenly sounded healthier and the blackened skin around his neck returned to its normal tan shade. He stopped wheezing and started breathing normally, which made Naruto smile.

"It's not a cure, but it'll hold off the venom for a while," he said, "It might give me enough time to find a real cure."

The rookie wizard tried to be brave and be more like a soldier, but his affection for the old man overwhelmed him and he moved in. Naruto took Sarutobi's hand and tried to feel him squeeze back, but his fingers didn't even twitch.

"Please rest and hold on until I come back," he then leaned over and kissed the old man's forehead and said in a tearful voice, "I love you, old man."

Naruto relented and was about to turn and leave, but then he heard a voice and a shuffle of feet. He turned around as his face became stricken with panic. He heard the ANBU outside walk from the door and another voice on the other side, but Naruto's charm muffled it out. Naruto had to Disapparate but even if his charm wore off in time, it would make too much noise. There was a commotion outside, as it seemed the third voice complained about the door being locked, much to the confusion of the ANBU. Naruto looked to the window, Sarutobi, the medicine, and then the cabinet at the wall beside the door.

'_**HIDE!**_'

The blonde wizard closed the cloak and threw the hood over his head as he bolted to the cabinet. Without a noise, he snuck inside and cracked the door open enough to see outside. The cabinet was filled with robes, extra blankets, and pillows while Naruto found a tight spot to hide and remained invisible. The extra charms he placed on the cloak masked his presence and even his chakra while he heard shuffling footsteps, followed by another pair of feet. And then Naruto heard the distinct sound of cane as the first individual entered the room.

{{_The Locket by Alexandre Desplat_}}

Danzo Shimura of all the people in the world had arrived with his head held high. Naruto slid back into the corner of the closet and almost slid down in a spineless motion. The blonde teen remained frozen where he stood, terrified and shocked as the elder had arrived way too early. He was forced to watch as the same ANBU he saw from the will reading, the one with pale, vampire skin, followed the Hokage Candidate like a shadow and held his breath. He had on a distinct outfit, like the other ANBU that Danzo was associated with, with red straps over his shoulders. He wore the mask of an animal, like the other ANBU, but also carried short a tantō blade on his back.

After the old man entered the room, Danzo drifted to the side of Sarutobi's bed. He stared down at him with a dark, emotionless face, until a small, sinister smirk stretched across his aged skin. Naruto shivered and his scar burned for less than a second. He felt an immense desire to leave but if he moved, he would alert Danzo and the ANBU that he was in the room. He could be killed on sight or forced to face punishment as Danzo arrived so much earlier than scheduled. He shouldn't have gotten back to the village so soon. The Fire Daimyo's palace was ages away, and yet here he was, right in front of him. Naruto had to wait until the old man left and he didn't know what to do next after that. But for now, all he had to do was wait and pray he wouldn't be found.

Naruto stared in silence as the old man started to talk to the bearded leader, unaware that his breathing had improved.

The hideous old man said in a slow and victorious voice as he mocked his former rival, "Look at him… so weak and defenseless… Pathetic… Hiruzen was once one of the most feared shinobi in the entire world, now he's been reduced to a withered old man on his deathbed… I have waited for this moment since the Second Shinobi World War. I should have been the one that was chosen to lead Konoha, not this coward… But now, I am the Godaime Hokage."

"Candidate, sir," corrected the ANBU.

Danzo frowned as he looked back at the ANBU and said, "For now… But without Sarutobi, this village will not be brought down to its knees... But we still have so much work to do… I will have to start with securities and make sure Konoha is turned into an impenetrable fortress. No more of these late-night strolls to stores, shopping malls, and ramen bars… But I will have to take it slow, one step at a time. But as soon as Sarutobi is dead and the title I have been elected for is made official, Konoha will be mine and the shinobi of Iwa, Kumo, Kiri, and Suna will have reason to fear us. And this village will never be attacked again… Rebellion will not be tolerated…"

Naruto looked shocked and disgusted at the same time as he saw the old man smirk and raise his voice, like some villainous scum. He knew that this man had ambitions, but he didn't think he was evil. He almost reminded him of Lord Voldemort at Malfoy Manor. But as the blonde-haired wizard remained hidden, the short ANBU in the room turned to his leader and talked in a voice that was emotionless, like a robot, but underneath that was a hint that made the ANBU sound almost insistent.

"Sir? What about Naruto Uzumaki? He is one of Sarutobi's most devoted allies. Once he learns about this, there is a chance he will rebel against you or fail to obey any orders given to him from you. What will you do to him should he cause a disturbance or prevent Sarutobi's demise? Will he be punished to set an example?"

Danzo stared at the wall in front of him and answered, "No… You know I cannot harm him or punish him."

Naruto would have breathed in relief, but he had to remain silent as he did let his muscles relax a bit. But then he felt a wave cold overwhelm him when Danzo finished his next statement.

"Besides, there's no need to speak ill of the dead," he said in a cold voice.

The blonde wizard froze when he heard that utterance and starred at Danzo as he read the old man's face. The ANBU seemed to be lost when it was obvious to Naruto what he had meant in his words.

"Sir, I don't understand," he said.

Danzo seemed bemused and then he said in a chilled voice, "You haven't heard the news? Naruto Uzumaki died in his old apartment building. He had been seen returning there a few times over the last few weeks for whatever reasons he had, often times after sunset. The landlord found him in the bathroom; the boy had fallen and broken his neck in the shower… Such an unfortunate accident and to happen to someone so young and… strange."

"I see," the ANBU said as he realized he had received detailed orders for an assassination mission as he bowed to the elder on one knee, "Accidents do happen."

Danzo frowned and asked, "You understand what needs to be done, then, soldier?"

The ANBU on his knee bowed his head one more time and without hesitation.

"It will be done at sunset, sir," he said.

Danzo ordered him with a swift, dark voice, "See to it. Be discreet."

With that, the ANBU had vanished while Danzo remained in the room and looked down at the old man beneath him. Naruto watched as Danzo tilted his head and then talked to the unconscious shinobi as he watched his hand and arms twitch and his face look distressed as he started to sweat in his sheets

"Farewell, Sarutobi… Perhaps this was a fortunate accident after all… What old man wants to be alive to outlive their grandchildren? Fear not, old friend," he then assured him and clenched Sarutobi's shoulder, "You will not have to mourn the little bastard for too long."

With that said, the elder left the room and shut the door behind him. Naruto then poured out of the cabinet, pale as a ghost and horrified, before he Disapparated on the spot.

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><p>To Be Continued…<p>

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><p><strong>Dun-Dun-DUN! Danzo is after Naruto!<strong>

**I know in most fics the writers like to make Danzo want to turn Naruto into a weapon. But in this universe, in the past he did try to persuade the Konoha Council to do it after he was orphaned, but Sarutobi took him in and protected him until Naruto was deemed too old for weapon conditioning. Since then, Danzo has tried to suppress Naruto and keep him grounded and under control with the help of the other elders, as seen in the will reading. Although Danzo has ordered for Naruto's assassination, Danzo's words have a double-meaning to them. But ****Danzo's true intentions with Naruto will be revealed in the next chapter.**

**I can't wait to read your reviews and reactions to this new plot twist! I'll keep on writing as usual and I really look forward to posting again soon! I should have the next chapter up in about a week or two!**

**See you guys later!**


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